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10/09/04




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Best Wrong Answer of the Season Award

Friday's episode of Jeopardy! contained the funniest incorrect answer of the whole season. Here's how it played out:

TOOL TIME $200: This term for a long-handled gardening tool can also mean an immoral pleasure seeker.

Ken Jennings: What's a hoe?
Alex: No.
[A guilty smile appears on Ken's face. The studio audience explodes into laughter.]
Alex: Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! They teach you that in school in Utah, huh?

The correct answer was "rake". I picked the same incorrect answer that Ken did right before he said it. I seriously thought it'd be right. Ken said the following on the Jeopardy message board:

"That was the first and last time I said an answer I knew to be wrong just because I thought it would get a laugh. Luckily, it wasn't a $2,000 clue or anything.

The more I think about it, I'm thinking the question is designed to get someone to give the wrong, funny answer. The phrasing seems like it's been fine-tuned to elicit 'hoe' before 'rake.'

During the next commercial, [another contestant], Reverend Al said, "Man, I'm glad that was you. I was about to say the same thing and I never would have lived it down with my congregation."

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    159
    10/08/04




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    Improv Everywhere

    I just came across an absolutely brilliant website. The site is ImprovEverywhere.com and is run by a group of aspiring actors / people who just want to have a good time. They go around to various places in NYC and do improv skits. They have transcripts for maybe 40 or so skits they have done together. Some of the best examples are the Deja Vu Skit, the Virgin Megatore Skit, Dollar Dudes Skit, and the Synchronized Swimming Skit. You'll understand a lot better what this website is about when you take a look at it for yourself. I would like to be a part of something like this. It's so creative and fun looking.

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    • Hilarious. I especially enjoyed the Mobius Strip Star Trek quote.
         Posted by Shaw on 10/08/04

    158
    10/06/04




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    System Overload!

    After watching political debates on TV, reading tons of newspaper articles and opinion pieces, looking at tons of political cartoons, and reading (and writing) tons of blog entries, I have come to the realization that there is too much to know about Iraq and about Bush 'n' Kerry for me to process right now. Aaahhhh...system overload!

    I've decided to take a break... and write a blog entry about how landfills work. Enjoy!

    The inner-workings of landfills are very interesting. Landfills are basically places to store non-recyclable, dry, and non-toxic trash. Unlike compost piles, the garbage in landfills is not meant to decompose. Landfills have been dug up years after they were closed and 40-year-old newspapers that were still readable were found! Landfills are licensed and regulated by local governments. Before a landfill can be constructed, an environmental impact study has to be done. If the area where the proposed landfill will be is suitable, work is begun on making it.

    Landfills have several layers. The bottom layer is a big plastic sheet to seperate trash from earth. The next layer is gravel and dirt. Pipes are laid down so methane gas and liquified decomposing matter can escape the landfill. The next layers are where the actual trash gets dumped. A layer of soil seperates these layers. The layers are divided into cells. Only one cell is filled each day and then sealed off. When all the cells in a layer are filled, the entire layer is sealed. When the whole landfill is full, dirt is piled on top and grass is planted to prevent erosion. Water supplies nearby the landfill are monitored in case there is a leak in the landfill. The methane gas that escapes the landfill is bottled and sold as an energy source.

    Commerical companies, the town garbage man, and you and I can dump stuff in a landfill. When you arrive at your local landfill, you'll have to pay a tipping fee, usually around $20 per ton of garbage. Before you can dump your load, so to speak, you'll have to remove anything recyclable or toxic. Then you can proceed to the day's cell to unload. Machines compact the trash as it arrives in order to fit the most stuff in the least amount of space.

    That's about all I know about landfills.

    Comments
    • haha - I love it ! I probably should feel deeply insulted by the fact that you call my blog ramblings a pile of trash, but I'm not :-) ....and I actually enjoyed reading about how landfills work. This evening, under dinner, I will try to impress my wife Diane with my newfound knowledge ! Again - kudos to you Sir! I think I take a break myself :-)
         Posted by nils on 10/06/04

    • Hey, i used to work at a landfill or at least dump stuff there regularly. They do not compress it or crunch it. They just use big earth movers to smooth it out. I wouldn't go to a landfill in your car or pickup truck for that matter to dump. You WILLLLL get stuck. Oh yeah...just pray it doesnt rain the day you go.
         Posted by dirty dozen on 10/07/04

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    VP Debate

    I am really beginning to like watching political debates on TV. I enjoyed last night's matchup between Dick Cheney and John Edwards. Cheney spoke very well and just based on how he answered questions as compared to how Bush answered questions in the first debate, I can see who wears the pants in that administration. I understand why people, particularly women, are actually afraid of Cheney. (Sorry, I don't have a source for that last sentence, but it's what I've heard.) John Edwards also did a good job answering questions and rebutting Cheney's arguments. At the beginning of the debate Edwards was looking like a miniature John Kerry debating with Cheney. Edwards even lifted exact sentences from Kerry's answers in the last debate. ("In September there were more casualties than in August. In August there were more casualties than in July...").

    The moderator of this debate, Gwen Ifill, wasn't as good as Jim Lehrer, the moderator of the last debate. Some of the questions, especially near the end, were weak. Also, Ifill accidentally gave Edwards extra time on one question.

    Did this debate change my opinion of either Bush or Edwards? Not really. It was still interesting to watch though. I would have paid money to see Cheney respond to Edwards with something like, "Now look here, son...". That'd be awesome.

    Comments
    • I have to agree with you Don. I don't like what Cheney's saying, but I've always liked his style. Lotsa red meat there. Still don't think he was able to fix what Dubya broke last week though :-)
         Posted by nils on 10/06/04

    • I think this debate was really Cheney vs. Kerry with Edwards acting as a proxy for Kerry. I think it would be very interesting to see Cheney and Kerry go head to head. Cheney would certainly do a much better job than Bush did.
         Posted by Shaw on 10/06/04

    156
    10/05/04




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    Martha's Sentence About to Begin

    Martha Stewart has just a couple of days left as a free woman. She has to report to a prison camp for women in Alderson, West Virginia no later than October 8th. It's hard to tell from this photo is the building is a prision, a public library, or an academic building at a university. It is the 1000+ bed facility which will be Stewart's home for the next 5 months:

    While I agree that Stewart's lying about the stock sale was wrong, I don't see the point in her going to prison for a few months. I think her debt to society would be better paid by her doing community service or paying fines larger than $30,000 .

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