We’ve Landed on Mars
If you haven’t read by now, the US has successfully landed on Mars. After a 10 month, 422 million mile journey to the red planted, the Mars Phoenix landed on the planet for a 90 day mission. NASA has stated that they are looking for signs of past, present or future ability for the planet to substain life. The Phoenix landed closer to the planets north pole, the Red Planet’s arctic plains, where winter is quickly approaching. The Phoenix relies on solar power in order to power up it’s camera, robotic arm and other instruments while on the planet.
When I was a kid I was always fascinated with the idea of space and what all is out there. The idea that there might be other galaxy’s just like ours with another “Earth” somewhere out there. Reading the stories and keeping up with the images coming in from the Phoenix is amazing to me. The fact that we can communicate with a device so far away blows me away. It’s hard to believe that NASA is able to retrieve images, control and communicate with an object 422 million miles away.
The Phoenix was originally scheduled to depart back in 2001 but was postponed due to a crash of the rover Polar back in 1999. Other explorations in 1997 and 2004 were successful and allowed NASA views of the terrain in order to better locate ice and water for this mission. In 2004, the rover Opportunity found evidence that a salty sea once lapped the shores of an area near Mars’ equator called Meridiani Planum. Astrobiologists generally agree that it’s best to look for life in wet places.
All this said, it still amazes me that we are not only able to reach planets millions of miles away, but we can communicate with these objects and explore for the future.
Blues on the Green
It’s that time again in Austin, Texas. As summer is upon us, it’s time for Blues on the Green to hit Zilker Park once again (and it starts tonight). Last year included some amazing performers and aritsts and this years line up is no different. If you are in the Austin area, you should check out Blues on the Green if have a free Wednesday night. The City of Austin charges for parking in the park on Blues night so be prepared to car pool or park a distance and walk but the concerts are FREE!
Schedule:
6/11 - Asleep At the Wheel
6/25 - Marcia Ball
7/9 - Los Lonely Boys (w/Shawn Sahm & The Tex Mex Experience)
7/23 - Carolyn Wonderland
8/6 - Sonny Landreth
8/20 - Doyle Bramhall/Gary Clark Jr.
This is just one of the other reasons that I love AUSTIN TEXAS. For more information about the events, visit http://www.kgsr.com/blues/index.html
A Close Call
The other afternoon, I walked out of my house after being home for a few hours to discover a huge limb from the tree in the font yard completely blocking me in my driveway. I am so thankful that the tree didn’t hit my truck. Needless to say, I ended up maneuvering my truck out of the driveway, through the neighbors yard and into the street.
What is ironic about this whole thing is that I called a tree trimming company a few days before to get an estimate to get the tree limbs off my house and clean up what the previous owner “tried” to do. This site is currently sitting in my driveway until Friday morning.
To My Readers…
I ran into B-Dub’s girl yesterday and we got to talking about blog posts and the funny things that happen in our lives. During the conversation, I was asked why I wasn’t posting anymore. So to all of my three readers, I have to be honest that I have just been in a blogging funk here lately. Life has been busy but I just haven’t been motived to post much. I am hoping to change this.
Some time ago I had quite a few readers that visited here. I still get quite a few clicks into the blog as shown by my tracking stats, but even those have started to drop some. I even had built up quite a few readers from other blogs and people around the globe from my postings here and there. I figure it’s high time to get back into the blogging world and write about life, liberty, and the pursuit of… well stuff. Plus being so busy would at least give me content to post about don’t you think?
So here is my promise to post more. Maybe not everyday, but I’m going to shoot for at least one a week.
Free Drugs
This was taken from Foxnews.com today! Crazy!
An unsuspecting passenger who flew through Tokyo’s Narita airport left with $10,000 worth of free marijuana thanks to a forgetful customs officer and a sniffer dog with an unreliable nose.
The officer stuffed five ounces of the drug into the side pocket of a randomly selected black suitcase coming off an overseas flight into Narita yesterday so that the dog could get some practice at detecting drugs.
“The dog couldn’t find it and the officer also forgot which bag he put it in,” a customs office spokeswoman said. “If by some chance passengers find it in their suitcase, we’re asking them to return it.”
The spokeswoman quoted the unnamed 38-year-old officer as saying: “I knew that using passengers’ bags is prohibited, but I did it because I wanted to improve the sniffer dog’s ability.”
He was reprimanded by the head of customs at Narita, Manpei Tanaka, who said: “This case was extremely regrettable. I would like to deeply apologize.”
The marijuana, which has a street value of $9,680, was in a metal box wrapped with newspapers. Japan strictly prohibits both hard and soft drugs, with people imprisoned for possession of even small amounts of marijuana.
April Fools Joke’s Abound
I arrived into work today to find the first of many April Fool’s jokes in the office and around the net. However, little did I realize that it was in fact April Fools. The company dress code at work is pretty relaxed. We can wear shorts, t-shirts, flip-flops, etc. As I sat down to read my e-mail, the president of our company had sent out a company wide e-mail addressing some of the dress code issues and a few changes that he wanted make. It was even attached to the official company letterhead through our e-mail program. Basically it took me about an hour to realize that we infact did not need to wear suits and ties along with dress shoes and the entire getup. Hoover’s is a pretty relaxed place to work for the most part so the entire thing caught me off guard to say the least. I was thinking about where I was going to be able to find a few suites without breaking the bank.
Google and a few other companies also had their share of pranks for the day. I got pranked for sure.
Television is Coming Back
Many of you know how much I enjoy television. So much so that the recent writers strike left me with quite a few gaps in my usually calm evenings spent in front of the tube. Granted, it was a much needed and appreciated break, but I am glad the strike is finally over. TV Guide has recently published, and continues to update, what they know about the upcoming schedule of shows and their expected arrival date and remaining episodes. It’s a site that I have been to quite a few times to see what else they know or any changes that might have taken place in the recent weeks. I have been surprised at the number of recently new shows that are TBD. Espically a lot of these new pilots that were just recently launched before the strike. Seem like Television is going to have the change the way they do sweeps weeks and the way that they launch and promote their best shows in an effort to garner the best advertisers.
I am pleased thought that a few shows are rolling are. LOST has been rolling for the past few weeks and I have to admit, that it’s something I have truly enjoyed on Thursday nights. Actually, it’s something that I don’t miss. Even if it’s set to record, no matter what I time I make it home, I make time to watch it. I kinda have to though too, since I am sheepishly apart of an e-mail group (mostly made up of friends) who weekly comment on the episode, heavily on Friday’s, about theories, thoughts, reflections, and the direction of the show.
I’m keeping on eve on TV guide, cause something inside of my just keeps hoping that 24 will actually come on before January 2009.
It’s That Time Again
You’re in the right spot if you were looking for Twistedsideways. It’s that time again where I get bored with the style and layout of my blog and give it a face lift. I haven’t really been digging my previous blog format for awhile and I have been looking for some new themes and ideas to to give this one a face lift. I’m really diggin’ warm colors these day and I feel like this one fits well into where I am in a color palette these days.
Wedding Venture
So I recently had the opportunity to help a friend here in Austin with a web project that she and her man to be were trying to put together for their upcoming wedding. Becky designed a website (which is fantastic) that showcases many of the amazing pictures that their wedding photographer took here in Austin and created a honeymoon registry where their friends and family can purchase a portion of their honeymoon. I had the opportunity to develop the site and do the design on the database that functions the registry portion of their site. All of us, Becky, Matt, and myself had such a fun time seeing the site come together and our ideas and hard work finally pay off. You should check it out at www.mattandbeckycampbell.com
I hope that this little website is a huge hit for them and that their friends and family will find this an enjoyable way to know what is going on in their lives and everything leading up to the wedding.
Democratic Debate
So the Democratic presidential debate is scheduled to be at UT today. I have to say, it’s one of the first times that I wish I could be at a debate. I learned of the debate being hosted at UT just the other day when talking with a friend. I have to be honest, I haven’t been keeping up with everything going on as much I would like to. Here is the article that was posted on KVUE about the event.
The University of Texas announced on its website Wednesday that the Democratic presidential candidate debate between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will take place at the Recreational Sports Center, but officials told KVUE News the event would be by invitation only.
The debate is scheduled for Thursday February 21 from 7-8:30 p.m. The Recreational Sports Center is located between the School of Social Work and Moncrief-Neuhaus Athletics Center.
UT officials say admission for students and the public will be by invitation only because of security restrictions.
Clinton and Obama are each wooing Texas voters ahead of the March 4 primary.
The University Democrats are hosting the event, presented by the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the LBJ Library, CNN and Univision.
