"Mr. Obama, as far as anybody knows, does not greet strangers with a cloven V salute, practice debilitating neck pinches, bleed green or have a constitutional incapacity to fib. But his methodical, unflappable style and otherworldly resistance to overt displays of emotion—not to mention his temperamental inability, or refusal, to connect on a visceral level with working-class voters—makes him, by contemporary candidate standards, downright alien.

That’s usually not a good thing. Yet, with less than a month until Election Day 2008, the Vulcan is winning."

-Jason Horowitz, New York Observer

1. Ernest Hemmingway's Pilar Cruiser Museum Replica FairField Mint

   Fairfield Mint was established in 1995 and has become one of America\'s largest ... Fighting chair and detailed cockpit. Real working lines ...

   fairfieldmint.com/p4331/.../product_info.html?type_id=28

2. spoonercentral.com/RS/Nat.html

   ... read of Ben Finney's account that Julio Sanchez was Hemmingway's fishing guide. ... of many items to aid the big game fisherman including the fighting chair. ...

   spoonercentral.com/RS/Nat.html

3. REM 9/24/00

   Plenty of people do have theirs though, like this anti-bull fighting page. ... his involvement in this sport unlike Hemmingway's Paco and his deadly chair. ...

   www.geocities.com/will_labar/rem/rem092400.html

4. Short Stories by Rebecca Marshall-Courtois

   Short Stories by Rebecca Marshall-Courtois. samples of my writing: The Place Where Colored Notes Play. The Debt. Bonne Ann�e. Grandma's Door ...

   www.geocities.com/rebeccamarshallcourtois/writingpage.html

5. fishstory99

   Sally jumped into the chair, ladies first, after all, and got excited. ... her with the other rig, David and I both were fighting to get her close to the boat. ...

   www.mindspring.com/~ktmzak/fishstory99.htm

6. Guyana Journal | Book Review

   As in Hemmingway's Old Man and the Sea, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and The Snows ... She would be so pretty that her parents (the races) would stop fighting. ...

   www.guyanajournal.com/col_girl.html

7. 1960 LIFE Magazine Issues For Sale at 2Neat Magazines

   ... Part 1 of 3, story is about bull fighting and more, Hemmingway's actual travels. ... cola ad, Santa in a easy chair with elves getting drinks and slippers ...

   www.2neatmagazines.com/life/1960.html

8. 1963 LIFE Magazine Issues For Sale at 2Neat Magazines

   ... vicious fighting in Vietnam. ... Mrs. Ernest Hemmingway's sentimental safari, return to the Africa ... the words - The President's Empty Chair, a stark phrase. ...

   www.2neatmagazines.com/life/1963.html

9. Oak Park Area Lesbian and Gay Association

   ... From The Co-Chairs ... of a scrumptious brunch at Hemmingway's Bistro, 211 N. Oak Park Ave. ... country as opposed to fighting to keep these restrictive ...

   opalga.org/index.php/P130

10. DVD releases include ''Oceans 13,'' ''Shrek the Third,'' ''Sesame ...

    ... up in D.C. to becoming the chair of fashion design at Parsons to his ... In fighting for a presentation at New York's Fashion Week, a fat cash stipend to ...

    hamptonroads.com/node/427791

11. jmadigan.net

    Fredrick Henry is an American fighting in the Italian army for some reason, and ... Mandy also got cake --delicious cake-- placed on her high chair. ...

    www.jmadigan.net/2007/12

12. jonesthefish |

    You can do this from Hemmingways or Malindi. The return trip ... Providing him with cold water and lining up the fighting chair as the fish gave him his best. ...

    www.freewebs.com/jonesthefish/aroundtheworld.htm

13. Regional Review: November 20, 1996

    ... clear that the objective is not to make money, we give this a fighting chance. ... Steering Committee Members: Chair Chuck Collins, Colsper West Corporation; Al ...

    www.nwcouncil.org/energy/compreview/rr18.html

14. Regional Review: August 28, 1996

    Steering committee chair Chuck Collins outlined the choices: 1) legislation; 2) ... Those are "fighting words," Collins cautioned. ...

    www.nwcouncil.org/energy/compreview/rr14a.html

15. April in Paris

    "Maybe Hemingway sat in this very chair..." A Business Lunch in Paris... spending much of the day in class fighting to stay awake and then coming home ...

    www.touristtravel.com/paris_travelgue.htm

16. DWNews_V6_N1_2002

    ... been fighting efforts in that country to "decriminalize" smoked dagga (marijuana) ... Chair, Drug Watch International Hemp Committee ...

    www.drugwatch.org/DWNews_V6_N1_2002.htm

17. The Project Gutenberg eBook of Torchy, Private Sec, by Sewell Ford.

    Why, she was propped up in an easy-chair with a sprained ankle, and had been for ... trying out my processes, and fighting the Patent Office sharks between times. ...

    www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/6/2/20627/20627-h/20627-h.htm

18. Accented text (402K)

    Aunt Harriet sat down miserably on a chair. " I've had a letter from Jennie," she stated. ... The chairs were gone from the decks, preparatory to the morning ...

    www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/9/1590/1590-8.txt

19. Ted: chapter one

    The rumour ran that Bethune was drinking heavily and fighting with the Spanish doctors. ... tantrums, broken windows, thrown chairs, flung ashtrays, another episode ...

    www.normanallan.com/Misc/Ted/nT ch 1.htm

20. 2007 March 29 archive at Dethroner

    ... floors above our bedroom, scuffing his chair, moving stuff. ... Fighting. Fitness. Gifts for Guys. Hair. Hairstyles. Meat. Romance. Smoking. Winter Fashion ...

    dethroner.com/2007/03/29

21. Whidbey Island Writers Association - Sea of Voices, Isle of Story

    ... security and terrorism; as well as write a book about fighting corporate fraud. ... Despite Hemmingway's warning that, " Writing is a lonely life. ... Desk chair ...

    www.writeonwhidbey.com/Publications/wiwa_newsletter_6-6.htm

22. Lee Oswald in His Own Words -- Life of a Soviet Worker

    Lee Harvey Oswald essay The Collective -- life of a Soviet worker ... metal beds to be placed around the walls and a table and chairs in the middle. ...

    mcadams.posc.mu.edu/thecollective.htm

23. Interview with Valerie Hemingway

    ... all those things that he wanted to see about the fighting cocks with Pichilo. ... you think about the fact that we have created the Hemingway Chair, at the Jos� ...

    mathaba.net/news/?x=558331

24. English Blog...

    No doubt this is drawn from Hemmingways own experience in the Italian Army. ... They would continue fighting until the camera appears to become knocked off, ...

    alexisgrace.wordpress.com

25. The SA Rocks Blog: November 2005

    ... lines are long when...the guy behind you pulls up a chair to sit on while in line! ... we will be at Roxy's this Friday 12/02/05 and at Hemmingways 12/03/05. ...

    sarocks.blogspot.com/2005_11_01_archive.html

26. Amazon.ca: Customer Reviews: Dirty Havana Trilogy: A Novel in Stories

    ... cantantes' (From Cuba with a Song) by Sarduy or Hemmingways 'Old Man in the Sea' ... We see couples fighting then copulating in public, on Havana's streets or ...

    www.amazon.ca/review/product/0060006897?showViewpoints=1

27. Amazon.ca: Customer Reviews: A Farewell to Arms

    ... a nurse, she could put him in a wheel chair and take him out on a walk so he ... The time they spent over in Europe was spent either drinking or fighting. ...

    www.amazon.ca/review/product/0684801469?filterBy=addFourStar

28. Caterina.net: Hussein and The Wet Stuff

    ... aided the rebel forces fighting Soviet Russia's attempt to ... 1) Texas never executed anyone in Texas with the electric chair while Bush was in office. ...

    www.caterina.net/archive/000073.html

29. Obtusity: 4/1/07 - 5/1/07

    ... macho "cavemen" who pollute society with unnecessary "fighting in the dance hall. ... The scene with one chair in a claustrophobic space represents his cognizant ...

    obtusity.blogspot.com/2007_04_17_archive.html

30. thoughts on a page

    ... mall war we are fighting that robs newly developed ... You see the little old woman sitting on her tiny chair with her flowers tucked in her arm. ...

    journals.aol.com/meanbeansuzay/thoughtsonapage

31. Caption Call: Caption Call Recap: A look back at the best - Weird ...

    No explanation provided, however, as to why he's sitting in a lawn chair. ( AP photo) ... today's picture of an unorthodox fighting match that would make UFC ...

    weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/captioncall/caption_call_recap

32. James River Run, September 2003

    ... give me a dollar for every lawn chair I've seen snagged in a tree, this trip ... Scottsville, which meant the wind that I had been fighting me would then push me. ...

    www.liverworks.com/James/index.html

33. WorldRiders2.com: Journal

    Come and read along as Pat and Cat Patterson describe their world journey on ... Hemmingway's "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" leapt off the silver screen in living ...

    www.worldriders2.com/Journal_17_1.asp

34. BeautyNewsNYC.com " 2006 " July

    And he sits me down (on the one chair in the place, at the reading table), and ... their part and come out fighting strong in this war against cancer by getting ...

    www.beautynewsnyc.com/2006/07/?category_name=city-pulse

35. Sarasota Magazine

    A nurse offered Little J a chair. " No, thank you," he said. " I'm going to watch. ... admit that he never considered fighting her because "you have to respect ...

    sarasotamagazine.com/blog/template_archives.asp?...&chosenMonth=6

36. OTHER ARTICLES

    ... all those things that he wanted to see about the fighting cocks with Pichilo. ... you think about the fact that we have created the Hemingway Chair, at the Jos� ...

    www.cubanews.ain.cu/2007/0720entrevistavalerie.htm

37. Audio-Visual Department - Connelly Library

    Hemmingway's Adventures of a Young Man. A Farewell to Arms ... Kenka Erejii = Fighting Elegy. Naked. Pokolenie = A Generation. The River. Seppuku = Harakiri ...

    www.lasalle.edu/library/Departments/newfilms.htm

38. IDAHO STATE COUNCIL TROUT UNLIMITED NEWSLETTER

    In the late 1990s, TU's Snake River Cutthroats Chapter in Idaho Falls and the ... Contact John, or Ken Retallic, ITU Council chair, who also lives in Ketchum. ...

    www.idahotu.org/itunewsletter.htm

39. Print Page - VIFA-3 Black Wraiths Chapter 2: Human Bomb

    Seated in one chair, with his hands and legs handcuffed together, is F'fej, ... "Paladin, if fighting starts, watch those doors on the right for reinforcements ...

    www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/index.php?action=printpage;topic=797.0

40. History

    They aren't really fighting. Don't you just love the difference ... Still fighting the beast ... We saw Ernest Hemmingway's house and two of the ...

    www.caringbridge.org/ms/shaepierce/history.htm

41. Mitt Romney for President My Man Mitt

    ... his position as a Vice Chair of the Romney campaign's Faith ... "A proactive voice in the wilderness, always on-message and fighting the fight, for Mitt. ...

    www.mymanmitt.com/mitt-romney/labels/mitt romney push poll.asp

42. Finnigan's Romance...And Other Natural Disasters by Spenser Hemmingway

    ... careful this time as she said, but it was almost as if nature was fighting them. ... to help unload the Clearwaters' wagon full of extra chairs and tables. ...

    www.siye.co.uk/siye/viewstory.php?sid=126799

43. Oh My Darlings! Oh My Darlings! by Spenser Hemmingway

    You know what Hemmingways are like around power tools," I reminded him. ... Fighting together, we were more than a match for the frogs and it only took ...

    www.siye.co.uk/siye/viewstory.php?sid=127138

44. Media Blogs " The end of elite liberal media empires and rise of ...

    After Fighting to Change Upper Tier Management at the New York Times, Major ... to newspaper and J-school reports, Hemmingway's first job on the Kansas City ...

    sadbastards.wordpress.com/category/media-blogs

45. eat your heart out

    Reported to be Ernest Hemmingway's drink of choice and a favorite of President ... is stark and mostly character-less with random chairs lined up against the walls. ...

    www.pulsetc.com/beforejune/General/ghaslaine.html

46. Cincom Expert Access Blog

    ... laptop computer, printer, desk and chair from the foundation, along with ... They must stop fighting with one another and start collaborating together -- and ...

    www.cincomsmalltalk.com/userblogs/skayser/blogView

47. The Amazing Interlude by Mary Roberts Rinehart

    ... arm of Uncle James' chair where ... a baby that had never lived; big Joe Hemmingway's dress suit, ... The chairs were gone from the decks, preparatory to the ...

    encyclopediaindex.com/b/mzgnt10.htm

48. TPMCafe | Talking Points Memo | Taking the Adversary Seriously: History ...

    By Rick Perlstein - May 26, 2008, 2:50PM. Let me plunge right in, thusly: ... hippie draftees who didn't want to be fighting the war, listening to rock n roll ...

    tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/26/taking_the_adversary_serio...

49. MySpace.com Blogs - Fletch MySpace Blog

    News From the Comfy Chair (for the week of November 24th, 2003) ... Eradicator critically injured (after fighting alongside the heroes) while Steel ...

    blog.myspace.com/fletchadams

50. Emerald City: Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Reviews - #127

    Fighting Faith, Victoria Strauss' The Awakened City, reviewed by Juliet E. McKenna ... Magic Kids Amanda Hemmingway's The Traitor's Sword, reviewed by Cheryl Morgan ...

    www.emcit.com/emcit127.php

TNG (As nerds and misfits call it) follows a crew aboard the Star Ship Enterprise. The ship is the size of a city, so naturally it’s staffed by about nine different people. I suppose there’re scores of people somewhere in the background, running the shops, doing the admin, cleaning the photon gun, tazering the Klingons etc... but, you only ever get to see the same people.

These are:

The Captain, Jean Luc Picard. He’s the brooding patriarch of the Enterprise clan. As his name suggests, his character was born in France, so plausibly they decided to cast no other than Shakespearean actor Patrick Stewart, presumably to give Brits over the world a snigger when he spouts remarks like ‘I remember the vineyards of Toulouse’ in a classically theatrical English accent.

While Kirk used to get in, shoot a few things, bang an alien chick and get out in time for the ad break, Picard seems to be both a master diplomat and master tactician. From the writer’s point of view, he never puts a foot wrong. Most of the time he manages to say the perfect thing or pull off the perfect tactical play. The writers suffer from ‘Diagnosis Murder’ syndrome, so like the Surgeons working 12 hour shifts and then having a bit of time to solve the odd stone-cold-whodunnit, Picard can handle the duties of a normal Captain, then somehow find the time to dick off to a random planet at his fancy and learn something about the natives.

As the series progresses, Picard becomes less the master and commander type and more of a bumbling, David Brent style Captain. One episode sees the ship stolen by a race of aliens who then proceed to beam the crew out of the ship and joyride to their home planet. All of which could have been stopped by Picard and Riker, but they spent most of the episode chatting up a very pretty but nonetheless computerised lady in the holodeck and were unable to assist.

In another episode, A hologram murderer makes it onto the ship and nearly wipes out half the crew, thanks to Picard using The Federation’s cutting edge, experimental technology, The Holodeck - paid for by the intergalactic tax payers money, no doubt - to indulge in a bit of role play as a 40s Private Detective.

Counsellor Troi is the Matriarch of the clan and ship’s counsellor. As the main female character, her heightened emotional state gives her the magical ability to sense other people’s emotional states. Whether she has the special ability to clean and cook really well is not dealt with. Her special ability means she spends most of her time pointing at people running away and exclaiming ‘I sense he’s frightened of something!’. As the plot is paper thin you can see the twists coming a mile off. For most of the show she spends her time pointing out the finer details to people too slow or lazy to follow.

Wesley is a child on the ship, and a round-eyed picture of innocence and wonder. He spends most of his time either wandering around the control room like a kid in a candy shop, or getting on Picard's tits. Although Picard is a master diplomat, fluent in however many alien languages and able to use his well-sculpted tongue to over-pronounce himself out of many a tight situation, he’s humorously unable to converse with an 18 year old child. Instead, he fixes Wes with the kind of look you give a stray dog with a leg missing and shouts at him a lot. This is due to the fact that when Picard was written the writers didn’t want to bother with trivial things like character flaws, so it provides welcome comic relief. 

Warf  is the ship’s only Klingon, a race similar to humans apart from the fact that somewhere down the trousers of time, evolution deemed it necessary to affix a Cornish pasty to their foreheads. Klingons are more barbaric and less intelligent then humans and they place great stock in virtues such as honour, courage, war, shouting, grunting, roaring, fighting, shouting some more and sporting receding hairlines.

The final five characters are aren’t really worth mentioning apart from their quirks. They are Lt. Data (Robot) La Forge (blind), Will Riker (twat), Lt. Yar (Head of security - nobs Data in the second episode) and Beverley Crusher (ginger). Beverley Crusher is played by the superbly named Gates McFadden.

New characters get introduced now and again but don’t bother to learn their names as they’ll only be eating phaser dust five minutes later. Star Trek has an annoying habit of killing off minor characters they’ve only just introduced to save them from having to kill the main ones off. However, when Lt. Yar gets killed by an evil pool of tar in one episode, the tacky and sentimental scene that follows makes you glad of this.

The average episode starts with the crew in high spirits; usually Data is failing to understand something we all take for granted ('what is this strange thing you humans call ballroom dancing?') because Data is a tool. He’s an android with a memory bank the size of India, so he’s able to quote the intricacies of Ferengi culture or the history of Klingon planets in a certain region at will, but is unable to understand even the basic concepts of the culture that invented him. He was probably made by Dell.

Anyhow, before long they will encounter an alien race. All alien races in Star Trek are humans, with two arms, two legs, proportionately sized bodies and some weird shit stuck on their faces thanks to the make up department. The alien races are shallow pastiches of human cultures, so the Farengis are ruthless capitalists, the klingons are warring bastards, The Borg are technology gone evil, The Vulcans are humourless logic whores who probably watch Newsnight Review and the humans (for which, read: white Americans) all go around the galaxy sorting out the other races’ flaws.

Someone will then make a mistake. Usually the crew - if they were real, they’d all be facing court martial by now for endangering civilians and Picard would have been shot from a cannon into the sun - and they will then need a futuristic, space-age battle to sort it out.

However, it’ll only be futuristic by the standards of the late 80s, so in reality all the flashing blue screens and chunky graphics look so retro you’re almost expecting Picard to mention that these computers can hold up to 12 telephone books worth of data, or La Forge to mention he just downloaded a song in a lightening fast six days.

After the ensuing battle, most alien leaders will melt under the steely glare of Picard and ‘fess up to their shortcomings, although not once will Picard ‘fess up to how much of a bumbling fool of a Captain he is. Did I mention the episode where he nearly gets himself killed because he couldn’t remember if he ordered a ship and its people to be nuked?

Instead, Picard tells the aliens where they went wrong in life and shoots off to another adventure.

And that’s Star Trek, really. What the Star Trek people have done here, unintentionally, is create one of the funniest sci-fi parodies to date. At least, the unintentional hilarity is why I tell myself I watch it and encourage others to do the same. But then I remember the Trekkies: legions of po-faced losers who seriously think this programme is worth all the conventions, merchandise, fan fiction, fan novels...

"The same way the computer was originally invented by a bunch of government scientists who were trying to figure out, for defense purposes, how to communicate," he said.

The mistake was reminiscent of Mr. Gore's comments about the Internet. When running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1999, he told a CNN interviewer: "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."

The first computers were created by teams of professors and graduate students. The two teams with the strongest claim to the invention were from Iowa State University and the University of Pennsylvania, where the research originally was funded by the Army during World War II.

Maybe Brokaw's "Manhattan Project" question helped muddle Obama's thoughts.  Nah, this question came after.  From CNN's transcript:

Should we fund a Manhattan-like project that develops a nuclear bomb to deal with global energy and alternative energy or should we fund 100,000 garages across America, the kind of industry and innovation that developed Silicon Valley?

What the hell does that even mean?  I get the "Manhattan Project" part, it's the "100,000 garages" that stumps me.  Why not a couple thousand shoe stores, or 1,500 beanie factories?  Anyway, in response, John McCain said, "Blah, blah, blah, you know who voted for the Bush-Cheney energy bill, that one," and pointed at Obama.  (I'm paraphrasing here.)  This seemed to be part of McCain's strategy to portray Obama as "not-yet-ready-for-primetime."  It clearly rattled Obama, because later, he took a "nyah nanna-na-nah, same goes for you!" approach, when he said this:

Now, Sen. McCain suggests that somehow, you know, I'm green behind the ears and, you know, I'm just spouting off, and he's somber and responsible.

McCain: Thank you very much.

Obama: Sen. McCain, this is the guy who sang, "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran," who called for the annihilation of North Korea. That I don't think is an example of "speaking softly.

Now, Obama's media supporters are predicting that other sources will soon be calling McCain racist for the "that one" comment.  While Grampa Mac was clearly being dismissive, it's much less clear that his derision was racially motivated.  But then, I guess whenever an old white guy, in essence, calls a younger black guy, "Sonny," you could make the racism case.  Whatever.  All I know is, I would have cared a lot more about the whole race thing a few months ago, before racism itself became a stereotype.

Besides, the "green behind the ears" thing makes Obama a Vulcan.  And, he called himself that.

Capitala insulei este Fira, oras port, care impresioneaza prin strazile inguste, taverne traditionale, magazine asezate pe versantii stincosi, dar si prin plaje minunate, si apa marii limpede precum cristalul.

Pe insula Santorini se ajunge cu avionul, sau cu ferry boat din portul Pireus ( 9 – 12 ore).Santorini, cea mai frumoasa si spectaculoasa insula a Greciei (dar si cea mai scumpa), primeste anual un numar de turisti de 2 sau 3 ori mai mare decat numarul locuitorilor insulei. Desprinsa in timp dintr-un vulcan ea ofera turistilor munte si mare, alb si albastru, biserici ortodoxe dar si traditii. Merita vizitata in cadrul unei excursii optionale, sau puteti opta pentru cazarea in aceasta insula cu 5 orase.

Santorini este taramul de unde porneste mitul Atlantidei. In trecut, minunata laguna a Portului Santorini era centrul insulei. Acesta a fost scufundat de puternicele eruptii vulcanice care au schimbat topografia locului, aducandu-i in schimb celebritatea; "nisipuri" negre si rosii, faleze naturale inalte de sute de metri. Capitala Insulei, Fira, este asezata intr-un perete vulcanic, pe o faleza inalta de 300 m. Casele de un alb orbitor, cu acoperisuri rotunjite, par chilii sapate in lava pietrificata, intre acestea stradutele mici si inguste duc spre magazine si taverne cu privire la mare.

Oia este renumita prin apusurile de soare care au imbracat forma unui ritual. Imediat dupa orele amiezii oamenii incep sa se indrepte spre terasele care dau spre mare.

Suprafata insulei este de 96 km patrati si se afla la 130 mile nautice de Piraeus. Linia de coasta abrupta a partii vestice este in opozitie cu plajele intinse din partea de est, unele nisipoase iar unele cu pietricele.

Daca porniti din Skala spre Fira trebuie sa urcati pe jos sau pe spatele unui magar. Exista si un funicular pentru cei ce vor sa evite sutele de trepte. Urcarea costa, cu funicularul sau cu magarusul, 3 euro/persoana. Veti intalni insa incapatanarea magarusului care poate refuza sa urce sau sa coboare cu dvs. in spate si nu veti putea recupera banii.

Vechiul sat Ia se afla la Nord de Fira si este un loc de incomparabila frumusete. Farmecul unic al satului sta in casutele mici facute din piatra moale (unele vopsite in alb, albastru sau ocru), in vilele neo-clasice cu gradini si in aleile inguste. Ofera totodata si o superba vedere spre mare.

Fira este foarte atractiva, cu strazi inguste si serpuite, arcade si un cartier unde a trait odata nobilimea Catolica. Exista un muzeu foarte important, cu descoperiri preistorice (in marea majoritate ceramica), o mare colectie de vase ce dateaza din secolele 7 si 6 i.Hr. (incluzand piesele cunoscute drept "Thera ware" (articole de olarie Thera), cateva piese stravechi si clasice si cateva sculpturi elenistice si romane.

Exista o priveliste superba din Fira catre Kamenes, cele doua insulite cu piatra neagra create de vulcan. Acestea pot fi vizitate cu barcile de transport.

Thira antica este un loc de un mare interes arheologic care a fost ocupat de fenicieni, dorieni, romani si bizantini. Cladirile includ grupuri de case, piete, bai, teatre, sanctuare, resedinta lui Ptolomeu Euergetes, morminte ale perioadei stravechi si clasice si vestigii din vremea crestinismului timpuriu. Pe stancile din jur se afla inscriptionate, in alfabetul antic din Thira, numele Zeului Apollo si ale altor barbati si baieti.

Akrotiri ofera cele 43 de vetigii ale orasului Minoan distrus in jurul anului 1500 i.Hr. de catre o eruptie a vulcanului de pe Thira. Ca efect, aceasta este o versiune preistorica a Pompeiului ingropata sub cenusa vulcanica, cu case de doua sau trei etaje, cu piete, magazine, ateliere si asa mai departe. Pe cel mai inalt varf din Santorini se afla Manastirea Profetului Ilias, unde se tine o sarbatoare religioasa pe 20 iulie in fiecare an. Printre cele mai bune plaje, unele cu nisip negru, altele cu pietricele, sunt Kamari sau Armeni, Amoudi Baxedes Perissa, Monolithos si Kokini Paralia.

Peisajul uimitor, ciudateniile mediului natural, arhitectura neobisnuita si monumentele minunate din Santorini atrag un numar mare de vizitatori in fiecare vara.

Dorin Damaskin H, 5 octombrie 2008

But just in case you never do meet him, you can still see that “Regular Guy” side of Allen via a few videos that have been floating around the Internet lately.

Check it out:

1) Shaq Attack:

Basketball phenom Shaquille O'Neal recovers gracefully from a tumble into the stands by shaking the hand of Trail Blazers owner, Paul Allen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKvm63hfFo8

2) High Five:

A Seahawks win has owner Paul Allen and fans in a very good mood. Check out this video of Allen high-fiving Seattle Seahawks fans as he walks off the field.
 
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/128891.asp

3) Twice Bitten:

Here Paul Allen is a good sport as he is attacked by a “vampire” while chatting with a comely news reporter about Gwen Stefani and technology.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1807044/stylela_paul_allen/

4) Cannes Hello:

Here is a video of Allen in Cannes, France, coming ashore from a trip aboard one of his megayachts, Tatoosh. His lovely home in St. Jean Cap-Ferrat, called Villa Maryland,  was a hangout for Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt during the 61st Cannes Film Festival last summer.

http://x17video.com/celebrity_video/brad_pitt/paul_allens_luxury_yacht.php

5) Blazers Workout:

Here is Paul Allen again after a Blazers workout, chatting about chatting with some dynamic new potential players from France --- in French, no less.

http://videos.oregonlive.com/oregonlive/2008/06/paul_allen_on_tuesdays_workout.html

6) Blazers Press Conference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur38bh1Ze4A

And here he is again talking about his favorite basketball team.

 7) Beard or No Beard?

 Here is Paul Allen joking around with Bill Gates as the famous photo from 1978 is retaken 30 years later: (2:30 minutes into the program):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyyYvdswn9Y

(From BBC’s “The Money Programme: Bill Gates: How a Geek Changed the World.” (Part 2)

8 ) A Computer on Every Desk:

And here he is talking about the realization of the dream that he and Bill Gates had of putting a computer in every home and on every desk:
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOuaT9r-YVk

9) Best Computer History Video of All Time:

If you haven’t seen Robert Cringley’s “Triumph of the Nerds,” in which many of the pioneers of the computer industry, including Paul Allen, were featured, you’ve got to check it out. Here is one place where you can find it :

 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5816243901626409784&vt=lf&hl=en

10) Jamming with Friends:

Finally, here are a few of my favorites----Paul Allen performing in concert through the years, just being a regular guy, having a good time and playing some pretty decent guitar rifts besides!

Here he is hamming it up with his band:

http://2008.thecableshow.com/Popups/ContentPopup.aspx?ID=427

And here is a bearded version of Paul Allen in 1995, having a great time performing with some good friends:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7736241993066088463&q=%22paul+allen%22&ei=rC0ZSI9SjqyuA9D3-OoG&hl=en
 

So maybe this post isn't "Evri"-thing you wanted to know about Paul Allen---

in fact, you can find that here:

http://www.evri.com/person/paul-allen-0x49a77.html

But it's still fun to see Allen in candid mode. :-)_________________________________________________________________________________

BTW---I know I’ve been away for awhile.

I’ve been a little sidetracked lately, doing some serious cyberspace exploration with my mini-pc, a Flipstart, and I’ve been having just too much fun with it to stop by.   But I’ll be back soon, I promise, with more six degrees connections, and a list of cool sites and other things I’ve discovered lately along the way.

Stay tuned.....

You know YouTube. It is not a question, It is safe to assume if you are checking out this blog you know of YouTube, for better or for worse. not to mention by while mentioning my extensive use of YouTube videos to highlight blog points. This has been a rather unproductive weekend. There was a decent party* at Rocco's but besides that, it has been rather vanilla. I have watched a lot of videos on-line, mostly Mad Men and Dr. Who, both great shows. With Mad Men it is interesting to see how odd the world was at the time, and it makes it easy to see how odd our behavior today will seem in a matter of years. Also as advertisers they were rewriting the way the business world portrayed themselves. I digress, let me get back to the point before I wander off so far that I need  the TARDIS to get back to it. So Although YouTube used to be my go to place for all Internet viewing, I have found many other sources, since sometimes i want to watch something longer than 5 minutes. While reading up on the weekend in NFL and College football, I watched the Florida loss live on Yahoo! Sports and that was just one of the upsets so there was a lot to read about , I read how analyst Chris Carter was getting on Matt Millen for drafting Charles Rodgers and Mike Williams. they were both lauded in college as top receivers in the NCAA but after being first round drafts the rest of their NFL careers, so far, have been mediocre at best. I myself remember wondering why they just kept getting Wide receivers from the draft. Roy Williams, from Texas, was 'thrown to the lions' as well nothing like a lil' sacrilege to spice things up.

So I remember Aaron loving Mr. Rodgers, and I also remember watching a few games with him playing. I had only been playing the sport for about 4 years, and actually watching it for even less, but it was hard to deny his athletic gifts. I remember him having a circus catch over some posterized Defensive Back**,(video of some catches if you click continue reading at the bottom of the post) so i decide to YouTube it. I get to Youtube, and it is all in Italian. My Italian is not terrible but i still prefer an English online experience. But with all this web 2.0 and 3.0 isht, websites read your IP Address and switch the site to match your assumed language preference. Now I know many Italians seem to not speak English, and most Italian IP's are used by Italians, so I am not the target audience...but it still gets to me sometimes. Since I have been using some of these sites for a while and now every time i go there i have to switch isht to English, bleh. after trying one or two things and having it switch back to Italian on every reload, I signed into Youtube to in hopes that when i do figure it out, the preferences will be saved to my Profile and I will not have to deal with it again. Once everything was Anglo, I look into the new MySpace and Facebook inspired account interface on their front page. I check my comment mail. There were some comments I made on Micheal vick videos, that I may have mentioned before (If not, I think many Americans hate Vick more than O.J. and not because Vick was found Guilty, more because for one species America is still the best place to be, dogs). The videos were gone, because not only does YouTube have short clips, ever since Google purchased it, it is a great target for getting sued for copyright violations. Well the last video I checked was the oen at the top of this post. My comment a year ago was "this is absurd" then someones response to that comment was "why is it absurd?" Innocent question, right? Nothing to rAnt about, correct? My response the this mateo1970 persons comment was "because one can find something to nit pick about in pretty much every possible thing said and done. You can try and find hidden meanings behind anything. Simply analyzing the etymology of words we use we can say someone is implying something they do not have any intention of doing. That is how it is absurd." I will get more specific by using the example of the word Volcano. While watching an episode of Dr Who set in Pompeii, the annoying twat of an assistant Donna Noble, keeps bugging the Doctor to save the Pompeian. He points out how it is a set occurrence and he can not stop it nor warn them, for they do not even have the word Volcano, since it happened after Pompeii, Vesuvius was just a Mountain to them. well at the end a Pompeian overlooking the destruction of the city below comments on how the lord Vulcan, the roman god of fire, must be angry, and says they can call it a Vulcano. Well this is not far from the truth of the word itself.  So to mateo1970 it may not be absurd if while talking about the 1997 movie "Volcano" staring Tommy Lee Jones, who was a nice addition to the exceptional ensemble cast in No Country for Old Men some atheists may complain that having a Volcano destroy the city, is a conservative Directors way of saying that the power of religion through nature scan cleanse the liberal Los Angeles. mateo1970 may still not see absurdity in any scene showing a church being destroyed being portrayed as a pagan directors views that Roman Gods are stronger than the Christian God, polytheism vs monotheism. So Mateo1970, what is absurd? It could not be the way the penguins walked. Definately not that in all the hundreds of wordy defenses and attacks of this video my 3 word comment on the obvious sparked your interest. Never in a Million years could it be that the clips for the YouTube Video are from 'news' channels and shows, not the E! network.  You, mateo1970, are absurd.

• Sometimes ill read comments to see what people say. maybe mateo1970 just wanted some more to read resulting in commenting on my comment rather than the others that had already said their say. if so, I do not apologize , you are still absurd, go pick up a book.
• *Excellent category while playings Circle of death or however you call the drinking games with the cards in a circle where the King or 10 is the Categories card. YouTube video quotes. Just a quote from a video, not the whole video itself. It will help to actually know the name of the video in order to defend your quote. No one can ever agree on what the cards stand for!

• ** I realize there is a lot of terminology in here that non-fans of American football may not get. so for my European friends and readers a Circus catch is what we call it when someone catches the ball in an implausible manner, usually over people or while diving through the air. in comparison to Cirque du Soleil, what you see makes you ooh and aah, same with circus catches. Posterization, occurs during sporting events when an athlete usually much better than the one being posterized, does something athletic, like a circus catch, a dunk in their face, or some fancy footwork leaving the defender looking at the grass as you pass. Defensive Back is a position in football, like a midfielder in soccer except not anything like them...read more here, more about American football here, more about original Football here, the one that actually uses feet to ball most of the time

Apparently Basedow continues his claim that he is a celebrity, despite a fake press release claiming he died in that tsunami disaster back in 2004. I think we all wanted him dead, and somebody had the glorious idea to pretend what it would be like if it actually happened. No! What actually happened was much more horrifying than you can ever imagine. Basedow was abducted by bonified fitness celebrity Richard Simmons. Then he was chained in an underground torture chamber for Simmons' sick personal enjoyment. What, did you think Richard Simmons really stays fit sweating to the friggin OLDIES?

Back in 2000 I ended up jumping into a rather intense project to help drive the final development / delivery phase for the Music Experience Guide (MEG) device (AKA Mollie) at Seattle's Experience Music Project. Our crew at id8 Group worked with a lot of great people and companies to ensure the MEG rolled out with the grand opening of EMP in June of 2000, noting the project had been underway at Vulcan long before we became involved in helping to get to the end game.

So while the news of the original MEG being retired is a little old (from the summer), its significant enough to pull it back up a few months later with the "boot up" of this site...http://news.cnet.com/8301-13526_3-9983787-27.html.

Noting it received mixed reviews, the device certainly broke new ground and legitimatized a digital media-focused approach to the museum world. Of course in the fast paced technology industry, timing is everything and the design was kicked off just before the cell-phone driven explosion of portable media technology. So given what was available to work with at the time, the device and overall solution (which included content creation / archeology, encoding, digital media management and distribution, and web-based services tied to end-user interaction / usage) was a strong and underappreciated step forward. It's arguable that the collection of MEGs deployed at EMP were the most-used (by the number of people who "touched" them) set of Windows CE-based devices over the years they were in service.

And amazing to see how 8 years later its replaced by a mass-market product.

Long live MEG!

Here's some of the MEG crew (Martin, Robert, Joe, and Craig) looking at an early development board MEG design.

Chong-Ho Choi with a pre-production MEG unit:

Me with John and James from eZEX:

John and James of eZEX at work on the MEG "motherboard":

Me on the MEG production floor:

MEG device burn-in station:

MEG production line:

EMP under construction:

EMP on the street with Chong-Ho Choi:

Me with a production MEG just before the museum grand opening in June, 2000:

Robert wowing the crowd showing off MEG in the museum:

Back in July of 2007, one of my friends, Brian, organized (with the help of a couple others) an impromptu 'East Coast Commandothon' Battletech event up in Gaithersburg, MD. Originally I wasn't able to go, but managed to swap schedules with my work and drive up to the store for six hours of hyperactive BattleTech action.

Even though I actually gave them the idea and outline of the game, I never imagined it to be so freakingly crazy. And awesome.

Basically, Chris - the Delaware Commando - pooled twenty of the most absolute worthless designs in the game for everyone to randomly pick and use. No cheesy, munchkiny stacked-to-the-gills heavy-gunned machines here, no way! All lights and low-end mediums (I don't think it went above 45 tons), with the likes of Garms, Vulcans, Javelins, Assassins, Stillettos, Sentinels and so on ad nauseum.

Glorious, fast, light 'Mech carnage.

We randomly rolled skills using the d6 - the result was you skill. Which meant you could be an elitist death-dealing sniper, an average schmo, or some wet-behind-the-ears backwoods redneck (or some combo therein), all duking it out on a nice, open map.

And carnage it was. Suffice to say, most of the successful attacks were physical ones (where 'Mechs can kick, punch, charge, jump on, and beat each other senseless) rather than ranged (weapon-fire) attacks.

My first 'Mech - the one I held onto for nearly five hours - was a near-worthless Vulcan. Which lost its primary tour-de-force (a flamer) in the first turn it saw action, thanks to a freakish pulse-laser weilding Spider. Yeah, yeah, I had a long-ranged autocannon and a mid-ranged laser, but come on! The weapon a Vulcan is known and feared for is that flamer!

Clearly, I needed to get my angst out somehow. So three turns in - after successfully feinting away from the pursuing Spider - I zeroed in on a Sentinel standing with his back against a cliff. Engaged MASC (an electronic version of adrenaline) and I charged the enemy at full speed; I'm pretty sure the Light Brigade would've been proud.

I blew right through it.

Using your imagination, it's as if I body-checked it at full speed into the cliff wall. SPLAT! Like a Ty Domi steamroller check (think of the one he laid out Lindros with!), that Sentinel was just a rock impression after I shattered it.

And thus, the Vulcan became not a wimpy medium 'Mech of scorn and derision on the table, but a genuine threat to every pilot on the board. And I realized, with my excellent piloting and horrifyingly bad gunnery, I could scare the others into running from me, then engaging my MASC and steamrolling them from any direction. Bliss!

So thus, my next target became Bill. Why? Because his Cicada offended me. Well, really, because he was the next-closest victim. That, and his continued taunts of my stalwart Penguins (he's a Flyers fan).

Missed a charge (and every weapon I had, too - which became a trend - not one of my ranged weapons ever hit anything), scared him to running, and then whipped around and went for a Commando....that someone else cored right before I could hammer it. Got back into position, had a great bead on Bill's oversized Cicada.....

...and my MASC roll failed. It's akin to having both legs pop out of joint right at the start of a sprint.

Fell down, damaged myself, attempted to stand, fell down again, attempted to stand, fell down again, attempted to stand, fell down for the final time. Everyone MISSED ME!. So stood up (fell down), stood up again, and walked back out.

I think at that point everyone was freaking out that if I survived another turn, I was going to execute a 'Death From Above' maneuver on the closest victim. (They were right!). So I attracted fire from five different players in my last turn.

They all hit. But! It took every last shot to bring me down. My Vulcan-o-doom died on the last SRM2 missile that popped my engine. I still had enough juice to crack someone, if that last shot had failed.

Oh well.

Still had time left, so I chose another 'Mech - a SRM-laden Javelin - and proceeded to knock out Bill's Cicada pilot with one shot, then disintegrate him on the next turn with the help of a few others (who all vultured that kill - he was immobile because of my missile storm). Then promptly got body-checked off the playing field by Chris's suicidal Stiletto.

All in all, one of the most fun games I've had in quite the long while. And a great cap to an awesome weekend.

See, I don't play much BattleTech any more. Hard to believe, considering I write so much for the game these days. It's hard for me to do so, however, because I get frustrated with players really easily. I guess I'm more of a 'roleplaying wargamer,' rather than a rules-enslaved one. And there are very few of my type around, but a lot of the latter.

So when I do play, I pick and choose my games. And I'm very happy to say that in this one, I chose well.

More memories later - this'll be an ongoing series.

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAD LEWIS / BARCROFT MEDIA LTD

I'm a Trekkie. I'm a Klingon-speaking, Vulcan-ear wearing, can't get enough of Harry Kim, Jean-Luc Picard quoting Trekkie. Well, maybe not to that extreme, but soon...very soon...I will be.

Now that I've admitted my Trekkie tendancies, I can also admit the reason that this is why I'm going to Melbourne...I want a pair of Spock ears.

Yep, I'm flying to the way to Melbourne to buy pieces of shaped plastic...and perhaps a uniform.

Like any addict, I can't pinpoint when I got hooked. Perhaps it was when I saw William Riker, with that beard and that piercing stare. Or perhaps it was my first glimpse of Worf (yeah, I know), or Odo or even Seven of Nine. All I know is that I want more, so much more. And to do that I must leave my safe, sheltered home town and embark on a journey to perilous, undiscovered Melba Quadrant (or Melbourne, was you Earthlings call it).

Over the first weekend in Melbourne, the various races and species will unite into a huge orgy of sci-fi madness. Armageddon will see all the Star-Gaters, the closet (and not so closet) Jedi and the every other geek and nerd you can think of, all gathered in one place.

And of course, what geek-fest would be complete without a special guest. During the weekend, some may drop to the feet of Margot Kidder, some may offer their first born to the Greatest American Hero William Katt. Hell, I'll probably have to stop myself from stalking The Sandman and Cristy Hemme, but the one person that I will walk over hot coals for...Ernie Hudson.

Who, I hear you asking. ERNIE HUDSON. Winston, the fourth Ghostbuster. And since the rumours about a third Ghostbusters movie started, you can bet that I'm pee-my-pants excited about this. And just a friendly warning to all those geeks who have managed to find this blog using my obscure sci-fi tags...STAY OUTTA THE WAY! If some gets between me and my Ernie, there will be pain and it won't be mine.

Yes, I'm standing up and proudly proclaiming to the world (or the three or four people who read this blog)...I'm a blaster-toting, Data-loving, hyperdrive-rebuilding Star Trek fanatic.

Live long and prosper. \V/ 

Qapla'

With the arrival of the Leuchars Airshow tomorrow, and the anticipated flight by XH558, the last and recently restored Vulcan B2 Cold War bomber, came the not too surprising news and a warning that the aircraft might soon be grounded. Thousands attending the highly popular event just might be witnessing the first - and last - flight in Scotland of the restored aircraft, which literally shakes the ground as its four Bristol/Rolls-Royce Olympus turbojets power it into the sky.

Dr Robert Pleming, Vulcan To The Sky Trust chief executive, said after five years and a £7.5m restoration project the cash was needed to run it annually. But now it could be destined for the hangar once again without a sponsor. The news comes after a major sponsor, which was to invest to keep the aircraft flying, was lost.

Dr Pleming said: "It looks as if the door may now be closing on the future of the Vulcan in flight. I think that anyone wishing to see a Vulcan in flight should do so as soon as possible. If we don't achieve a significant change of circumstances soon, we won't be able to carry out our role of 'honouring the past, inspiring the future', providing the once-seen, never-forgotten sight of XH558 in flight to a new generation, stimulating interest in design and engineering and telling people about an important period in our nation's history. With the public's help, the triumphant return of the Vulcan this summer became the not-to-be-missed spectacle of the season. I sincerely hope that 2008 will not also turn out to be her swansong."

The Civil Aviation Authority granted the Vulcan permission to fly in July.

Departing Brize Norton in 2008:

In flight at Southport

And a old newsreel of XA907, which flew 26,000 miles around the world, only to crash on arrival at London. Interestingly, the commentator clearly states then that the Vulcan is a supersonic atom bomber, however it was in reality subsonic. Perhaps a little misinformation deliberately leaked to keep the other side on its toes? Notable also is the survival only of the pilot and copilot, saved by their ejector seats. One of the "uncomfortable" features which the occupants of these two seats had to come to terms with was the fact that in the case of an accident, they had the only means of escape, and would have to leave the rest of the crew behind, trapped in the confines of the cockpit as there was simply no room for further ejection seats, or an escape hatch. XA907 proved the point, and crew numbers were later reduced.

Designed in 1948 by Roy Chadwick, the aircraft could travel at speeds of up to 645mph and was capable of carrying nuclear bombs. The Vulcan was restored at the airfield in Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire, where it has been kept since being decommissioned in 1993. It was based at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire when it was operational.

About 20,000 people have contributed to the restoration fund for the bomber. A total of £2.7m funding has come from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Sadly, I have to say the news comes as no surprise, as I've watched the restoration struggle from one funding crisis to another over the years, visiting the fund-raising tent at Leuchars year by year, and learning that completion of the project was "Maybe next year, or...".

That the team has made it this far is something of a small miracle, however as one who's run small business division that cost a relative fortune in terms of running - as opposed to initial setup cost - the need to keep cash flowing in to keep such a venture alive is often badly underestimated, especially if there is no great return for the sponsor or champion.

All I can do is wish them luck - my contribution would keep them running for about 10 minutes, so I hope they can attract someone with seriously deep pockets and long arms.

The "first" last flight of XH558:

This week's shot is by mjenner10, and he has many more aviation pictures in his stream. I encourage you to take a look for yourself.

Update: Oh no! They're running out of money. Agh!

If you like this, I encourage you to check out this summary of all of the aviation photography I have featured here.

I've been really busy chasing the Vulcan and just generally busy in real life so I have skipped my virtual blog life.

However, I am back and champing at the bit for some fun

Let find some good Concorde, Vulcan and other fun on the web

Andy

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The rumors of my new employment are true. As I mistakenly said to someone a few moments ago, I am off the Government Cheese, and back to Gruyere (don't print that, R&R...) I am proud to say that I am rejoining Clear Channel, this time as Program Director of WMJJ-FM (Magic 96.5) in Birmingham, Alabama. I was able to travel to B-ham last weekend to scout out rental locations, and was truly taken aback by how wonderful the area was. I took my family to see the statue of "Vulcan" (and his naked arse), went to the McWane Science Center, and spent time just driving around, enjoying the town.

I think I'm gonna like it here...

So, a bit to catch up on, but here are a couple of recent eco-strips which have appeared, in the meantime.

And yes, that is a metrocard, which Oscar is holding - valid for use on buses in Lyttelton, Christchurch and Snowpeak, Arctic Circle.