- I’d love to say that reason, logic and common decency prevailed Thursday when Rev. Terry Jones, called off his plan to burn copies of the Quran at his Florida church, but when men like Terry Jones are involved, reason, logic and common decency are nowhere to be found. Nonetheless, Jones has promised to pull the plug on his plan f**k you to the entire Muslim world based on his claim that he has received assurances that a planned Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero in New York would be moved. Never mind that the claim has already been rejected by the religious leader behind the planned center, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. Oh, and never mind that Jones has become to target of death threats to the point that the FBI has been working with him to ensure that no one makes good on their threat to remove him from the plant. Because if I didn’t know better, I’d think Jones realized what an out-of-touch, hatemongering a-hole he would come across as if he went ahead with the Quran burning, along with the fact that he would then have thousands upon thousands of people walking around having vowed to kill him. Fearing for your life and realizing that even the Christian demographic you claim to be a part of doesn’t support you would be powerful incentives to cancel the event, but no way a visionary like Terry Jones would back down, right? So stick to your claim that you, of all people who want the proposed Manhattan mosque moved, have been given a promise that a new location will be used. Now, we can all mark the solemn anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in more appropriate, non-hateful fashion, which should be nice. Now, as for that promise that the mosque won't be built near Ground Zero……both Rauf and Imam Muhammad Musri, a Florida Muslim leader who appeared with Jones at his announcement, said no agreement on a meeting with Jones or relocation of the mosque had been reached. Rauf did issue a statement later Thursday that summed up how pretty much everyone but Jones and his group of Kool-Aid drinkers felt. "I am glad that Pastor Jones has decided not to burn any Qurans. However, I have not spoken to Pastor Jones or Imam Musri.” Perhaps Jones and his fellow hate-mongers at the Gainesville-based Dove World Outreach Center can find another group to direct their ire toward, a group we can all agree to despise…..perhaps American Karaoke contestants, for example. But let’s give the last word on this to our fearless leader, President Obama, who called the plan by Jones to burn the Qurans on Saturday a "recruitment bonanza for al Qaeda." Perhaps a bit of a reach, but fairly on point………
- Some artists have difficulty putting out even one album every two or three years (and yes, I’m looking directly at you, Axl Rose). Others crank out music at a breakneck pace and give their fans plenty to listen to on a regular basis. But even the most prodigious producers of music have nothing on former Auteurs front man Luke Haines, who has released 50 different versions of his new album, “Outdoor Music” He recorded 50 takes of the album and did all 50 live in one continuous take, with all mistakes left unedited. When you factor in that he recorded them live at his home studio, the recipe for uniqueness becomes that much more potent. In fact, one of the takes - named in numerical sequence - is even said to feature Haines answering the door to his postman halfway through. The one major drawback to the album is the price, a whopping $115 that apparently has not deterred buyers from lining up for their copy. Haines wrote on his Web site that he sold out almost instantly. "Demand was much greater than anticipated," he said. "Congratulations to all those who have purchased 'Outsider Music'. Commiserations if you missed out. All fair in love, war and art." Definitely not a traditional album release and making just 50 hard copies of a project that are all unique, original and unedited is something I would not expect to see another artist attempt any time soon. I second Haines’ congrats for those who scored one of the copies, although I can’t say I would have made the same decision to purchase if given the chance………
- Maybe I have a soft spot for great long distance sailors with interesting life stories, but the story of Steve White and his quest to sail around the world is intriguing to me. When a guy builds his path to the top by starting out as a jockey, moving to a career restoring classic cars and having next to no sailing experience before working several years in a small boatyard and discovering his passion for sailing, I find that compelling. Throw in the fact that the father of two also had to re-mortgage his house three times in order to compete in the very races that have since established him among sailing’s elite and you have a Hollywood-worthy story. That story will take on an added level of “wow” if White can attain his new goal of sailing solo around the globe "the wrong way" -- from west to east -- against the prevailing winds and currents. Completing the 22,000-mile voyage that has been called impossible by some will mean single-handedly manning a vast sailboat designed for a crew of 10. White will almost certainly suffer from sleep deprivation based on the sheer workload he will face and the prospect of gale-force winds and waves that can rise as high as a three-story building on a night when 10 minutes of sleep are more than he can grab has to be intimidating. "The record is known as probably the hardest and definitely the most grueling record in sailing," White admitted. Asked why he would attempt something that would cause even the heartiest of sailors to wet themselves, White was direct. "Put simply, it's the adrenalin hit," he said. "As a jockey I was addicted to the thrill of riding an animal over which you have only limited control. The open water is very similar in that respect." In other words, he’s a man motivated by the challenge and the adversity posed by the "unpredictability of the sea and the skies" and handling a "big and complex craft" are as real as challenges come. Those unfamiliar to sailing may not understand the drastic difference between the trip White will attempt and normal efforts to circumnavigate the globe, which are made from east to west because, as White says, "you're just carried by the wind and the waves." Being a huge fan of anyone who flies in the face of convention and normalcy, I could not be more pumped about White’s decision to go the opposite direction. He will be traveling across the Atlantic to the tip of South America, then heading west across the southern Pacific and Indian oceans before finally returning to the Atlantic. He admits that at any point along the trip he could “fall out the side of the boat and still die,” but is willing to forge ahead anyhow. His biggest fear, he claims, is letting his friends and family down by not completing the journey. His secondary goal is breaking the current "westabout" solo round-the-world record, which was set in 2004 by Frenchman Jean Luc Van Den Heede, who made it in 122 days, 14 hours and four minutes. To follow White along his journey over the next few months, track him at http://www.whiteoceanracing.com/ and know that succeed or fail, it will be an amazing adventure…………
- So that’s what all the buzz was about, eh Google? The big announcement promised by the Web giant for weeks now turned out to be Google Instant, a live-updating service that aims to shave seconds off the users’ normal search time. Instant actually launched about half an hour before the official unveiling. The big change is that when a person types in a search query, the search results begin popping up on the page instantaneously based on the letters they’ve entered and results are refined with each additional letter typed. The search box moves to the top of the search page and results appear in a constantly changing list. If your desired search result pops up before you finish typing, you can select it can keep right on moving. Google estimates put the amount of time saved at 2-5 seconds on a typical search, which now averages 9 seconds. The update will be available on Google's Chrome 5 and 6, Firefox 3, Safari 5 for Mac and Internet Explorer 8, meaning pretty much everyone will have access to it. "Welcome to Google Instant," a blue box tells users. "Feelings of weightlessness and euphoria are normal. Do not be alarmed." Clicking on the box takes you to an announcement from Google, on that promises to "push the limits of our technology and infrastructure" to make search faster. “People type slowly, but read quickly, typically taking 300 milliseconds between keystrokes, but only 30 milliseconds (a tenth of the time!) to glance at another part of the page," Google wrote. "This means that you can scan a results page while you type." At the official press event to introduce the new app, company officials invoked the “P” word - psychic. There's a psychic element to it," Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president of search product and user experience, said at the launch event. "We can predict what you're likely to type." Instant is definitely a leap forward for a company intent on fending off its ever-growing field of competitors and staying atop the search engine field, but will it be enough to hold off MSN, Yahoo! and the like? Ask Google, because they seem to have psychic powers these days………..
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