The Big Think

Are you suffering from Blog Depression?

Whoa. Scientists have discovered a frozen lake on Mars. Ice climbing, anyone?

New Serenity trailer up! I know where I’ll be on Sept 30th.

Here is a truly amazing flikr photo set. Not for the squeamish (pat!) this guy photo documents the removal of his brain tumor. Okay, the doc’s assistant did the bit when he was on the table, but it’s amazing nonetheless. The comment section is particularly interesting.

Again, it’s gruesome, but the gent turned out okay and all is well. Interesting stuff for the strong stomached.

Those crazy Kiwi’s have done it again. The world’s first underground Hobbit Hotel.

Interesting post about how bad Quick Boy Movers is, and how they threaten anyone who complains against them.
I’m posting this here to get this post as high as possible on Google.

New Planet Found?
(and yes, there may be 11 planets, if you count Sedna)

This is amazing. Illusion #3 is particularly incredible.

Bill Gates gets OWNED. Classic.

Scientists are hot on the trail of the cause of migraines. As someone who suffers from these occasionally, the cure can’t come soon enough.

Ahhh! My eyes! My eyes!

link, if you dare.

Have an extra $100,000,000 burning a hole in your pocket? How about a trip to the moon?

Happy Birthday to Jennifer!

Cool Video here of yesterday’s launch of Discovery. You can see the whole launch to orbit section from a camera mounted on the external tank. Very cool.

It was the Sunday paper insert that got me. I was looking through the Dallas Morning News that Pat and Lydia left this weekend when I saw it: Burnout 3- Takedown has reached the 1 million sales mark. What does this mean? Well, it instantly becomes a PS2 “classic” and goes on permanent sale at $19.99. Erin got a kick out of my reaction when I saw it. (in my best gee-whiz little boy voice) “Burnout 3: Takedown! It’s on sale!” You had to be there, but it put Erin into a fit of laughter to realize she had married so far beneath her maturity level.
So naturally, she went to Target today and got it for me, bless her. Do I have the perfect wife or what?

Who said science wasn’t sci-fi? Nasa brings you The Sounds of Saturn. Spooky!

Erin and I took Pat and Lydia to the new Whole Foods today. Me and the wife took a detour to the cheese counter and spent a good 15 minutes talking to the “Cheesemonger” there about various cheeses. I love talking to someone who knows their stuff and who loves their area of expertise. You could tell this guy loves cheese and knows the history, flavor, and nuances of the vast number of cheeses at his counter.

I like cheese a lot, but I’ve always been averse to the really pungent, mold-marbled varieties you often see. You know, the ones that look like they’ve been left at the back of a college student’s fridge for a few semesters. In talking with this guy, though, I decided to be a foodie and try some. “Can I taste your moldiest cheese?” says I. You should have seen the light in his face.

I don’t know what kind of cheese it was, and he said he gave us something that was a good beginner cheese, but this thing was absolutely covered in white penicillin roquforti bacteria. It had a soft, spongy white covering of squishy mold about 1/8″ thick. He was sure to cut off a chunk of that as well as the underlying cheese for us to try.

I have to say, while it wasn’t my favorite, I was surprised that my body didn’t instantly reject it in a fit of gagging. Erin managed to get a few bites down as well, bless her.

We moved on to a really marbled Bleu Cheese. It was way too strong for me, but the different types we tried had definite flavor variations.

An interesting little culinary adventure.

We’ve been in Dallas this weekend for the wedding of Allison Watts and David Greene. Congrats to the happy couple!
Hey Pat, is allisonanddave.com taken?

Today is the 36th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing! Celebrate by visiting the moon (don’t forget to zoom all the way in).

Hug Your Customers by Jack Mitchell. A great business book about improving your customer service by treating your customers like friends, and not just like meal tickets. I’m pleased to say that I do many of the things in this book already. I’ve always been a pretty gregarious businessperson, and seem to be able to naturally turn many of my customers into friends. It doesn’t hurt that I do something I’m pretty good at and that I love. People can tell when your heart is in it.
Business really is all about relationships, and this book is a good place to learn why.