Thursday, June 25, 2009

The King of Pop

He owned a statue of Marilyn, studied Chaplin and married Elvis' daughter. It seemed the perennial man-child would cease to exist if the applause ever stopped.
By Geoff Boucher and Elaine Woo
10:09 PM PDT, June 25, 2009
Michael Jackson was fascinated by celebrity tragedy. He had a statue of Marilyn Monroe in his home and studied the sad Hollywood exile of Charlie Chaplin. He married the daughter of Elvis Presley.

Jackson met his own untimely death Thursday at age 50, and more than any of those past icons, he left a complicated legacy. As a child star, he was so talented he seemed lit from within; as a middle-aged man, he was viewed as something akin to a visiting alien who, like Tinkerbell, would cease to exist if the applause ever stopped.

It was impossible in the early 1980s to imagine the surreal final chapters of Jackson's life. In that decade, he became the world's most popular entertainer thanks to a series of hit records -- “Beat It,” "Billie Jean," “Thriller” -- and dazzling music videos. Perhaps the best dancer of his generation, he created his own iconography: the single shiny glove, the Moonwalk, the signature red jacket and the Neverland Ranch.

In recent years, he inspired fascination for reasons that had nothing to do with music. Years of plastic surgery had made his face a bizarre landscape. He was deeply in debt and had lost his way as a musician. He had not toured since 1997 or released new songs since 2001. Instead of music videos, the images of Jackson beamed around the world were tabloid reports about his strange personal behavior, including allegations of child molestation, or the latest failed relaunch of his career.

A frail-looking Jackson had spent his last weeks in rehearsal for an ambitious comeback attempt and 50 already-sold-out shows at London's O2 Arena. A major motivation was the $300 million in debt run up by a star who lived like royalty even though his self-declared title of King of Pop was more about the past than the present.

"It's one of the greatest losses," said Tommy Mottola, former president of Sony Music, which released Jackson's music for 16 years. "In pop history, there's a triumvirate of pop icons: Sinatra, Elvis and Michael, that define the whole culture.. . . . His music bridged races and ages and absolutely defined the video age. Nothing that came before him or that has come after him will ever be as big as he was."

Jackson "had it all. . . . talent, grace, professionalism and dedication," said Quincy Jones, Jackson's collaborator on his most important albums and the movie "The Wiz." "He was the consummate entertainer, and his contributions and legacy will be felt upon the world forever. I've lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him."

Jackson was born Aug. 29, 1958, in Gary, Ind. His mother, Katherine, would say that there was something special about the fifth of her nine children. "I don't believe in reincarnation," she said, "but you know how babies move uncoordinated? He never moved that way. When he danced, it was like he was an older person."

Katherine Jackson, who worked for Sears, Roebuck and Co., taught her children folk songs. Her husband, Joseph, a crane operator who once played with the R&B band the Falcons, played guitar and coached his sons. The boys were soon performing at local benefits. Michael took command of the group even as a chubby-cheeked kindergartner.

"He was so energetic that at five years old he was like a leader," brother Jackie once told Rolling Stone magazine. "We saw that. So we said, 'Hey, Michael, you be the lead guy.' The audience ate it up."

By 1968, the Jacksons had cut singles for a local Indiana label called Steeltown. At an engagement that year at Harlem's famed Apollo Theater, singer Gladys Knight and pianist Billy Taylor saw their act and recommended them to Motown founder Berry Gordy. So did Diana Ross after sharing a stage with the quintet at a "Soul Weekend" in Gary.

Ross said later that she saw herself in the talented and driven Michael. "He could be my son," she said. Another Motown legend, Smokey Robinson, would describe the young performer as "a strange and lovely child, an old soul in the body of a boy."

Motown moved the Jacksons to California, and in August 1968 they gave a breakthrough performance at a Beverly Hills club called The Daisy. Their first album, "Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5," was released in December 1969, and it yielded the No. 1 hit "I Want You Back," with 11-year-old Michael on the lead vocals. "ABC," “I’ll Be There” and other hits followed, and the group soon had their own television series, a Saturday morning cartoon and an array of licensed merchandise aimed at youngsters.

There was a price: childhood.

"I never had the chance to do the fun things kids do," Jackson once explained. "There was no Christmas, no holiday celebrating. So now you try to compensate for some of that loss."

Joseph Jackson ruled the family, by most accounts, with his fists and a bellowing rage. In a 2003 documentary by British journalist Martin Bashir, Jackson said his father often brandished a belt during rehearsals and hit his sons or shoved them into walls if they made a misstep.

"We were terrified of him," Jackson said.

In the Bashir interviews, the singer said his father ridiculed him for his pug nose and adolescent acne. He also described, with obvious discomfort, having to listen to an older brother have sex with a woman in the hotel bedroom they shared.

Onstage, Jackson seemed to know no fear.

"When we sang, people would throw all this money on the floor, tons of dollars, 10s, 20s, lots of change," an adult Jackson once told Newsweek. "I remember my pockets being so full of money that I couldn't keep my pants up. I'd wear a real tight belt. And I'd buy candy like crazy."

By 1972, Jackson had his first solo album, "Got to Be There," which included the title hit as well as "Rockin' Robin." His first solo No. 1 single came the same year -- the forlorn theme song from the movie “Ben.”

He struggled to understand a world that he saw mostly while staring into spotlights and flashbulbs. Standing ovations greeted him onstage; parental slaps awaited him in the dressing room. Like his mother, he became a Jehovah's Witness, forswearing alcohol, cigarettes and foul language. He fasted on Saturdays and went door-to-door, wearing a disguise, to spread the faith. (He ended his association with the religion in the late 1980s.)

In 1978, Michael made his film debut as the Scarecrow in "The Wiz," a black-cast adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz." The movie launched a creative and commercial partnership with "Wiz" music director Quincy Jones.

The first fruit of their collaboration was "Off the Wall" (1979), Jackson's debut album on the Epic label. It sold 5 million copies in the U.S. and 2 million abroad and generated four Top 10 singles.

It was with Jones (as well as often-overlooked songwriter Rod Temperton) that Jackson shaped "Thriller," which was released near the end of 1982 and became the best-selling studio album in history and a cultural landmark. Its effect on the music industry and the music videos that came to define the then-nascent MTV was huge.

In a Motown TV special in 1983, Jackson, then 24, electrified the nation with his Moonwalk, a dance step that created the illusion of levitation. He took the stage in a black sequined jacket, silver shirt, black fedora and black trousers that skimmed the tops of his white socks. The final touch was a single white glove, studded with rhinestones.

Times critic Robert Hilburn, who observed the performance live at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, said the broadcast marked Jackson's "unofficial coronation as the King of Pop. Within months, he changed the way people would hear and see pop music, unleashing an influence that rivaled that of Elvis Presley and the Beatles."

His dance style combined the robotic moves of break-dancers, the quicksilver spins and slides of James Brown and the grace of Fred Astaire, whose routines he studied. The aging Astaire called him "a wonderful mover."

Not only did "Thriller" smash sales records as the bestselling album of 1983, but it made Jackson the first artist to top four charts simultaneously: It was the No. 1 pop single, pop album, R&B single and R&B album. It earned five Grammy Awards. Jay Cocks wrote in Time magazine that Jackson "just may be the most popular black singer ever."

The "Thriller" success enabled Jackson to negotiate what were believed to be the highest royalty rates ever earned by a recording artist. But it also put him in a cage of his own anxieties and obsession.

Jackson bonded with past pop-music royalty by marrying Lisa Marie Presley in 1994 and grabbing a major interest in the Beatles' catalog, an asset worth $500 million. The marriage was short-lived, however, and his wealth was imperiled by an extravagant lifestyle that included the 2,700-acre Neverland Ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley, where he lived with a menagerie of exotic pets.

Jackson became a prisoner of his own celebrity. He became so accustomed to bodyguards and assistants that he once admitted that he trembled if he had to open his own front door. He compared himself to "a hemophiliac who can't afford to be scratched in any way."

Notoriously shy offstage, onstage he was electric and acutely attuned to what his fans craved. Commenting once on a sotto voce note at the end of a ballad, he said: "That note will touch the whole audience. What they're throwing out at you, you're grabbing. You hold it, you touch it and you whip it back -- it's like a Frisbee."

"I hate to admit it, but I feel strange around everyday people," he said on another occasion. "See, my whole life has been onstage, and the impression I get of people is applause, standing ovations and running after you. In a crowd I'm afraid. Onstage, I feel safe. If I could, I would sleep on the stage. I'm serious."

In better days, his wealth allowed him to fulfill personal fantasies -- including building his own amusement park -- and bankroll charities, particularly those involving children. Then came the dark whispers about the nature of his relationship with boys.

He was often seen with youngsters, both famous and those plucked from the mundane world to visit his playground estate. In 1993, he was accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy who was a frequent overnight guest in his home. On tour in Asia when the charges were filed, he abruptly canceled his performances, citing exhaustion and addiction to painkillers as the reasons.

Jackson's attorney charged that the boy's father, a would-be screenwriter who had tried to obtain Jackson's backing for a project, was trying to extort money. The criminal investigation was closed after the boy refused to testify. A civil lawsuit was settled for a reported $20 million.

"I am not guilty of these allegations," Jackson, then 35, said after the settlement was reached. "But if I am guilty of anything, it is of giving all that I have to give to help children all over the world. It is of loving children of all ages and races. It is of gaining sheer joy from seeing children with their innocent and smiling faces. It is of enjoying through them the childhood that I missed myself."

He lost a Pepsi endorsement as well as a deal to develop several films. The Jackson-themed Captain Eo attraction at Disneyland was scrapped.

A second case unfolded in November 2003, when Santa Barbara authorities, acting on accusations by a 13-year-old cancer patient who had stayed at Jackson's ranch, arrested the star. The 14-week trial featured celebrity witnesses such as Jay Leno and Macaulay Culkin and Jackson's own bizarre antics, such as showing up for court in pajama pants and a tuxedo jacket. It ended June 13, 2005, with his acquittal on all counts.

Jackson acknowledged in the interview with Bashir that, despite the earlier cases, he still invited children to share his bedroom and saw nothing wrong with it.

"It's not sexual," he insisted. "I tuck them in, have hot milk, give them cookies. It's very charming, it's very sweet."

He added that his own children "sleep with other people all the time."

By then, Jackson was a figure of pop music's past, not its present. When The Times, in 2001, asked top recording executives to name the most valuable acts in the business, Jackson failed to make the top 20.

In 2003, he settled a lawsuit by his former financial advisors after legal documents portrayed the singer as near bankruptcy.

At the same time, he was waging legal battles against his 1970s recording label, Motown Records, and his current label, Sony's Epic Records. He stirred speculation about his mental state when he charged that the latter company, and in particular Mottola, had inadequately promoted his work because of racism.

He celebrated his 45th birthday in August 2003 at a curious public event that seemed to underscore the decline of his career. Hundreds of fans paid $30 each or more for admission to an old downtown Los Angeles movie palace, where largely amateur or obscure performers sang, lip-synced or danced to the fallen idol's hits. Most of the seats reserved for A-list guests went begging.

When the honoree took the stage at the end to join in a rendition of "We Are the World," he was flanked not by the likes of Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder, as he was when the famous song was first recorded, but by several Jackson impersonators.

Such impersonators usually model themselves on his "Thriller" persona, but the singer himself looked nothing like that in recent years.

There was intense public curiosity about his physical metamorphosis. Jackson often insisted that his wan complexion was the result of treatment for a skin disorder called vitiligo, but that did not explain why his once-broad nose became long, sleek and pertly tipped.

He publicly admitted to two nose operations, but cosmetic surgeons who studied his photographs surmised that he had undergone far more, possibly so many that he had destroyed the cartilage.

In 1996, Jackson married his former nurse, Debbie Rowe, who bore two of his three children, Prince Michael Jr. and Paris Michael Katherine. He did not disclose the identity of the mother of his third child, Prince Michael II.

He raised the children without their mothers and had them wear elaborate masks whenever they went out with him. Several months after Prince Michael II's birth, Jackson dangled the baby outside an upper-story hotel window in Berlin to show the child to fans assembled below. The incident led to accusations that the singer was an unfit father. He later acknowledged that he had shown poor judgment.

He is survived by his children; his parents; and siblings Maureen, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, Randy, LaToya and Janet.

Interview

on

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Here Goes Nothing

from espn:
The Washington Wizards are close to a deal that would send the No. 5 pick in Thursday's draft, Oleksiy Pecherov, Etan Thomas and Darius Songaila to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Randy Foye and Mike Miller, a league source told ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher on Tuesday.

The Wolves would then keep the draft pick and their own selection at No. 6 and not try to package those to move up, a source told ESPN.com's Andy Katz.

The deal would be finalized on Wednesday, in advance of the draft, another source told Katz.

Foye is a three-year veteran who was second on the Wolves in scoring last season at 16.3 points per game. He added 4.3 assists per contest.

Miller was part of an eight-player, draft-day trade last season, going from the Grizzlies to the Wolves with Kevin Love for the rights to O.J. Mayo. The nine-year veteran averaged a career-low 9.9 points per game for the Wolves last season.
Technically this is a very interesting trade. Songalia is a poor man's Mike Miller with more passing ability. Etan Thomas is a banger down low which is great to have on the team. Pecherov is a good euro prospect who has mostly failed so far in limited minutes, still interesting though. The number 5 pick is very interesting. It could mean we are going after Thabeet or Rubio. It could also mean we are holding on to both picks and have a total of four first round picks on our team this year. Either way this is a great way to build for the future instead of the holding pattern we've been in. This guy...

Dinosaurs

from sciencedaily:
ScienceDaily (June 22, 2009) — The largest animals ever to have walked the face of the earth may not have been as big as previously thought, reveals a paper published June 21 in the Zoological Society of London’s Journal of Zoology.
Scientists have discovered that the original statistical model used to calculate dinosaur mass is flawed, suggesting dinosaurs have been oversized.
Widely cited estimates for the mass of Apatosaurus louisae, one of the largest of the dinosaurs, may be double that of its actual mass (38 tonnes vs. 18 tonnes).
"Paleontologists have for 25 years used a published statistical model to estimate body weight of giant dinosaurs and other extraordinarily large animals in extinct lineages. By re-examining data in the original reference sample, we show that the statistical model is seriously flawed and that the giant dinosaurs probably were only about half as heavy as is generally believed" says Gary Packard from Colorado State University.
The new predictions have implications for numerous theories about the biology of dinosaurs, ranging from their energy metabolism to their food requirements and to their modes of locomotion
.

Under Pressure Two Ways

Choose your own adventure...



Thursday, June 18, 2009

Mother Fuckers

from sciencedaily:
ScienceDaily (June 18, 2009) — Sport hunters are depleting lion and cougar populations as managers respond to demands to control predators that threaten livestock and humans, according to a study published in the June 17 issue of PLoS One. The study was led by Craig Packer, a University of Minnesota professor and authority on lion behavior, who worked with an international team of conservationists.
The study looked at numbers of lions and cougars killed by hunters over the past 15 to 25 years in Africa and the western United States. The analysis suggested that management agencies often adjusted quotas to control rather than conserve the big cats in areas where humans or livestock were threatened.
Sport hunting takes a significant toll on these large feline species because replacement males routinely kill their predecessors' cubs to improve their mating opportunities. (Killing cubs forces female lions into estrus or "heat.") The team of scientists confirmed this effect by comparing the impact of hunting on populations of lions, cougars and leopards with its impact on black bear populations because male black bears do not routinely kill infants of other males.
Lion and cougar populations have suffered the greatest decline in African countries and U.S. states where sport hunting has been most intense over the past 25 years, the researchers found. Leopards were not as affected as lions and cougars, most likely because they benefited from reduced numbers of lions. Black bears, by contrast, appear to be thriving despite the thousands of bears killed by hunters.
The study results point to the need for new approaches to protect humans and livestock and to manage sport hunting without endangering these vulnerable species. One possibility would be to restrict sport hunting to older males whose offspring have matured.
"We need to develop scientifically-based strategies that benefit hunters, livestock owners and conservationists," Packer says. "It's important to educate the public about the risks these large predators pose to rural communities and to help hunters and wildlife managers develop methods to sustain healthy populations."
"Packer's colleagues included co-authors Luke Hunter, Executive Director of Panthera and Kristin Nowell from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission (IUCN/SSC) Cat Specialist Group, as well as Dave Garshelis, Chair of the IUCN/SSC Bear Specialist Group."

Mayne Street

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

toxic americans

In the NYT this past weekend there was a really good article from Frank Rich about what is happening with Obama-haters. The whole article is here.
"What is this fury about? In his scant 145 days in office, the new president has not remotely matched the Bush record in deficit creation. Nor has he repealed the right to bear arms or exacerbated the wars he inherited. He has tried more than his predecessor ever did to reach across the aisle. But none of that seems to matter. A sizable minority of Americans is irrationally fearful of the fast-moving generational, cultural and racial turnover Obama embodies — indeed, of the 21st century itself. That minority is now getting angrier in inverse relationship to his popularity with the vast majority of the country. Change can be frightening and traumatic, especially if it’s not change you can believe in."

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Don't Call It A Comeback

from espn:
In the next few days a Minnesota Vikings trainer and a member of the team's coaching staff intend to travel to Hattiesburg, Miss., to work with retired quarterback Brett Favre, a source close to the situation tells ESPN.

The Vikings staffers will be assessing Favre's progress since having arthroscopic surgery to repair a partially torn biceps tendon in recent weeks. Favre already has resumed throwing, but he doesn't know yet if his arm will be healthy enough to allow him to play a 19th NFL season.

Training camp begins in seven weeks. Sources said Favre had surgery two weeks ago.

Favre did not report to organized team activities that began Tuesday.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Ocho Cinco

from profootballtalk:
OCHOCINCO: ME AND CARSON ARE LIKE “BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN”
Posted by Josh Alper on June 9, 2009, 10:39 a.m.
Throughout the offseason Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer made several comments indicating his displeasure with wide receiver Chad Ochocinco. While he had nicer things to say at the end of May, the relationship between the two players was something to watch as training camp and the season unfolded.

There’s nothing to worry about, according to Ochocinco. He and Palmer are as close as a couple of cowboys riding out a cold night in the mountains.

“I know people are trying to say we’re mad at each other and all that, but we’re good,” he told Bengals.com. “We’re like Brokeback Mountain. I’m going to be with Carson so much in July that I’m going to be the nanny [for his new twins].”

Quite a change from a man who was trying everything under the sun to quit Palmer a year ago.

The lengthy interview covered many topics, but continually came back to Ochocinco’s claims of a renewed hunger after a subpar 2008 season. He said both Denzel Washington and Kobe Bryant told him to go back to having fun on the field and to stop worrying about the things he can’t control, something he vows to do for a team he calls more talented than the one that won 11 games in 2005.

He also said that his comments about not working out before the 2008 season shouldn’t be taken to mean that he tanked the season. Rather, Ochocinco says he was overconfident about his abilities and his seperated shoulder proved that he couldn’t coast and that he has no fears about returning to form because he’s been working out harder than in the past.

He also reached out to Bengals fans in an attempt to convince them that he wants to be in Cincinnati’s after past trade requests.

“I need the fans to embrace me. I know people are mad at me. I read the message boards, but I’ve apologized 85 times,” Ochocinco said. “If they can embrace me, I can spread my wings and be myself. When they’re mad at me, I don’t know if I can be myself. I’m an emotional guy. I want them to know that I love them and I want to win. I want to be on point with everybody on the team and win. I know I’ve been frustrated when we haven’t won. Maybe now when I vent, I should just do it to the fans on the message boards.”

It might just be a ploy to sell some Ochocinco jerseys, but Chad’s certainly putting on the hard sell in the last couple of weeks.

Skoll Favre

from espn:
How close is Brett Favre to joining the Minnesota Vikings?

Close enough that his family and friends have reserved a block of hotel rooms in Green Bay for Nov. 1, according to the Green Bay Press-Gazette. That's when the Vikings are scheduled to play the Packers at Lambeau Field.

The newspaper reported that about two months ago, a person described as "a member of Favre's inner circle" blocked off between 25 and 30 rooms at the Midway Motor Lodge.

"They called and said if he goes to Minnesota they definitely want to be at the game," said Doug Warpinski, the manager of the hotel, according to the report. He said Favre's family and friends routinely stayed at the hotel for home games in Favre's last five seasons with the Packers.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Ms. Moses

For a long time, as a young man, I was dedicated to being everything everyone wanted me to be. As I got older I learned life lessons. Those experiences helped to transform me, little by little, into the man that I am today. Going forward I am quite certain that this will be part of life that has a continuous pattern to it. It evolves the same way we do.
When I was in seventh grade I was waste high in mud most of the time. Because I was self-centered I didn't realize that most other people were waste high in mud, not just my classmates but my teachers, family, even strangers. I could see it on the face of some people although at that time there was no way to know what it was. It was about the same as a villain in a cartoon movie. If someone had a face without a warm smile on it they were angry, upset people. I used to look at my parents from the passenger seat of cars as they drove. I would ask them why they were upset. They would turn and smile. Each time they responded that they were not upset, just thinking. They would smile some more and then focus back on the road. Slowly they would lose the smile as the thoughts filled their mind again. I could only understand a limited amount about just their facial expressions. I could look at a globe and identify all the borders and different bodies of land and water. I knew about the different layers down to the core. But there was a part of the harmony of it all that I didn't have a grasp of. In most ways I still do not. Age forces you to make some choices and stick with them. To have some opinions and believe in them. It is nice. Also tricky.
I had a history class when I was in seventh grade. The teacher was named Ms. Moses. She had a scar on her face that the rumor mill attributed to a childhood dog attack. I had an interesting relationship with Ms. Moses because I had attended a camp where her and some other members of the faculty and staff of the school worked at during the summer. Therefore she was forced to show some affection for me because I had a strong reputation at camp, but at the same time my reputation at school was such that there was room for filth. She needed to be cool with me because of the friends I had made at camp. She also had to tear me down because she was weak.
The filth came during a class discussion about terrorism. I was one of the only students at the school with a Middle Eastern background. Despite the fact that the Middle Eastern side was mixed with an Irish side I still stood out enough that the keenest of racists showed me no mercy. Mostly I was oblivious, one of the advantages of an imagination. Unfortunately I was also a hot headed asshole in the making who was always ready to fight the fights I considered worthwhile. This class discussion on terrorism started out with me biting my lip hard.
I decided it was not the best move to speak up. I decided it wasn't personal at all. I paid attention as a silent observer as Ms. Moses wrote the word terrorism in the middle of her chalkboard and circled it. Then she started asking for people to raise their hands and say things that they associated with terrorism. With each new word she wrote it down on the board outside of the terrorism circle, gave it it's own circle and then connected the new circle to the original terrorism one. A bunch of standard fare flew out of the mouths of my classmates just as they dropped their hands with glee from being called on. Either because they wanted the brownie points or they understood the game or they were just trying to say something so they wouldn't be called on. Then this kid named Isaac raised his hand. He said Iran. My mom was born in Iran. Oddly enough, my Irish father had prepared me for this moment my whole life. My blood boiled. Even thinking on it now I can remember how mad I was. In a different world I would have exploded up from my desk and spun like the tasmanian devil sending the room into a swirling cyclone of fury. At that moment some kind of control came over me and overcame my bodies urge to explode. Without being called on I complained. I stated that my family was Iranian and couldn't believe this was being said in the class. An example of the hostage crisis was brought up. I went DEFCON on everyone's ass. I dropped into silence. Seemingly conceding the point. As the discussion started again I raised my hand. Ms. Moses didn't even see it coming. As she called on me I didn't even drop my hand before I calmly delivered my word, "Christianity."
I was thrown out of class. Ms. Moses had gotten offended, along with a batch of other students. They didn't want to hear about the real crusades. And they sure didn't want to hear about how similar the crusades were to what the terrorists they were currently finger pointing at were doing. I spent a while in the office, talked to the round of administration, it had become a familiar experience. I think Ms. Moses wanted to give me a yellow slip or a blue slip or something. Fortunately my mom was having none of that shit, and neither was the administration when it came down to it. Either because I was valuable as a minority percentage or because I was just valuable. That part is up for future actions and history's interpretation to decide.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

New Search Engine

Wolfram Alpha was released recently, and its one of the new generation of search engines. It's really good for asking specific questions and getting the answer you want. For example, i asked How old is David Letterman? and it gave me back his age in years, weeks and days. Comparing things is really cool too, as it likes to give you graphs and charts. here's the Link.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

The Legend Continues



Bigger Things

Tuesday, June 2, 2009