- Who’s ready for the comet of the century and a bizarre
type of meteor shower? Earth could get both later this year when the comet ISON passes by, potentially bringing with it
an odd meteor shower formed by the dust sloughed off by the comet's tail. Meteor
scientist Paul Wiegert the University of Western Ontario believes the meteor
shower could be unique. "Instead of burning up in a flash of light, they
[the particles] will drift gently down to the Earth below," Wiegert said.
He postulated that the specks of
dust will be travelling at a speed of 125,000 mph before slowing to a halt once
they hit the Earth's atmosphere. If that occurs, observers on the ground
probably won't be able to see the meteors as they fall through the atmosphere.
"Don't expect to notice," NASA officials said of the shower in a
press release. "The invisible rain of comet dust, if it occurs, would be
very slow. It can take months or even years for fine dust to settle out of the
high atmosphere." Yes, an invisible rain of comet dust. It sounds like the
pretentious album name of an über-pretentious indie/hipster rock band, but this
time it could be reality as well. NASA is taking a more pragmatic approach, but
officials admit that a brilliant light show is possible because the dust from
ISON could create "noctilucent clouds" — icy night-shining clouds
above the Earth's poles that glow blue. "Electric-blue ripples over
Earth's polar regions might be the only visible sign that a shower is
underway," NASA officials said. Presently, ISON is winding its way through
the solar system, headed toward the sun. Its closest path to the universe’s
source of light is expected to be 730,000 miles. NASA's Swift spacecraft
spotted the comet in January when the speeding chunk of rock was discharging
more than 112,000 pounds of dust every minute as it passed Jupiter. Wiegert
then did a series of calculations to determine where the dust might end up on
Earth's orbit and if he’s right, the results could be fun to watch…….
- Give Chael Sonnen credit. He knows what he’s good at and he’s
found a way to get paid a lot of money for it. Granted, what he’s good at and
what people enjoy seeing is him getting his face caved in while inside a giant
mesh cage, but a living is a living. Sonnen, the resident loudmouth/punching
bag of UFC’s light-heavyweight division, talked himself into a title bout with
reigning champion Jon Jones at UFC 159 in Newark, N.J. He showed up and
absorbed a beating at the Prudential Center, suffering first-round TKO at 4:33
of the first round. Jones controlled the fight by taking Sonnen to the ground
and unloading and although Sonnen tried to get back on his feet, Jones kept
putting him on the mat. After the fourth takedown of the fight, Jones kept him
on the ground and began abusing Sonnen with his trademark elbows, battering the
challenger’s face over and over until the referee Keith Peterson had no choice
but to end the fight. Jones won even though he suffered a broken left toe
during the fight. He was unaware of the injury during the fight, but the fact
that his toe was contorted into an unnatural shape should have been a clue. "I
wasn't planning on breaking my big toe," Jones said. "I wanted to
outwrestle Chael Sonnen." He admitted that Sonnen’s absurd amount of
unjustified smack prior to the fight had him in a vengeful frame of mind and
that some of his rage was channeled to his performance inside the octagon. "I
was just trying to get back at Chael Sonnen. I really wanted to silence Chael Sonnen
and I think I did the job,” Jones added. Of course, the odds of anyone
silencing Sonnen are slim. The only reason Sonnen, with a career record of 27-13-1,
still gets good fights and makes money to do battle in a place where he is
nowhere close to championship level is because of his mouth. Hearing Sonnen
talk is entertaining, usually more entertaining than what happens when it gets
inside the octagon. Finding someone who believed Sonnen would prevent Jones
from successfully defending his title for the fifth consecutive time was
virtually impossible in the weeks leading up to the fight and it was obviously
with good reason…….
- Climbing Mount Everest is already one of the most
thrilling endeavors a person can undertake. The whole “staring an icy death in
the face for days on end to reach the top of the world’s tallest mountain” is
pretty exciting, more than enough excitement for the most avid thrill seeker.
But there is always someone out there looking to push boundaries and shatter
the paradigm and that’s when you have awesome stories like a group of
European climbers brawling with Sherpas on the slopes of the world’s
most-famous peak. This riveting tale broke over the weekend after three
Europeans, from Italy, Switzerland and the U.K., threw hands with the famed
local guides known for shepherding climbers up the mountain. The three
Europeans were headed for Camp 3 at about 23,600 feet on the 29,035-foot
mountain on Saturday, but their trip went haywire when they crossed a fixed
line being put in place by the Sherpa climbers. A statement issued by Italian
climber Simone Moro’s explained how the Westerners had injured another local
climber by knocking ice down onto him. According to Moro’s statement, about 100
Sherpas later attacked the three Westerners at Camp 2, lower down the mountain.
Punches were thrown, kicks were delivered and the offensive explorers also
received death threats. Another group of climbers ultimately intervened and the
three climbers headed down to Base Camp by a “circuitous route.” “The climbers
believe that the lead Sherpa was tired and cold and felt that his pride had
been damaged as the three climbers were moving unroped and much faster to the
side of him," the statement said. “Whatever the reason may be, there is no
reason to instigate vigilante rule and to try and kill three visiting climbers.”
The culprit in sparking the incident appears to have been Briton Jonathan
Griffith, who allegedly crossed the line of rope being fixed by the Sherpas. Swiss
climber Ueli Steck did the same and from there, it was on. The Sherpas went
nuts and with both ice and fists flying, a small initial altercation gave way
to the massive brawl in camp later in the day. Offending Sherpas is generally a
bad idea because they know the mountain like no one else and are a key to
safely traversing its peaks, but knowing that they are also “Likes to Fight”
guy adds another reason to the list of why to stay on their good side……..
- Get your tickets now, fans of crappy music. The second annual
edition of the Mixtape Festival is coming to Hersey, Pa. on July 26-27 and this
year’s collection of musical rejects is truly stupefying. One of the primary
acts is reunited man band New Men on the Block and they will be joined by Man
band 2.0, a.k.a. the Jonas Brothers. If those were the two headliners, it would
already be an astonishing collection of awful artists, but wait, there’s more.
The festival will also feature the long-awaited reunion of ‘90s girl-pop group
TLC, or at least the two living members of the group. Those two would be Tionne
"T-Boz" Watkins and Rozanda "Chili" Thomas, who will get
their act back together for their first extensive outing since the death of
Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes
more than a decade ago. "We are so
thrilled to bring back the Mixtape Festival to Hershey," Live Nation
spokesperson Geoff Gordon said in a statement that seems to indicate that he
hasn’t actually seen the lineup for his own festival. "There's an incredible
lineup and tons of interactive and fun activities, all while being set at a
world-class amusement park -- it's really a pop music lover’s dream.” Also on
the schedule are mainstream pop acts Train, the Script, OneRepublic, Hanson,
along with Run-DMC co-founder Rev Run & DJ Ruckus – the latter two
seemingly having signed up for the wrong festival. When talk of a TLC reunion
has taken place in the past, Watkins and Thomas have suggested that they might
project Lopes on a screen while piping in her vocals. They played what was
billed as their farewell concert in 2003, but have played sporadic dates since.
Come one, come all for a truly awful collection of pop waste sure to assail the
ears and torment your other senses as well……..
- West Haven, Conn. robber Michael Peterson needs to
reconsider his choice of tools. Peterson, part-time aspiring criminal genius
but full-time idiot, decided to start his criminal enterprise at the bottom
with a good ol’-fashioned convenience store robbery. He held up Sam's Food Mart
in West Haven and he didn’t come unarmed. No, he showed up with his trusty saw.
A clerk at the convenience store called 911 to report that a white male wearing
a mask was acting suspiciously. Wearing a mask was probably a tip-off, as is
brandishing a hand saw. Police learned about the saw when a second emergency
call came in while they were en route to the scene and during that time, their
suspect brandished his saw, threatened the store clerk and stole the cash
register. Yes….the whole cash register. Peterson then fled the scene in a
Chevrolet pickup truck and tried to make his getaway on I-95 North. He was
eventually tracked down after exiting onto Route 1 in New Haven and now faces multiple
felonies including robbery, larceny and engaging pursuit. While being located
by the police was inevitable given that he seems to be not that bright, one
can’t help but think how much more successful Peterson could have been had he
only shown up for his robbery with a more impressive tool – a chainsaw. A hand
saw says, “Hey there, I’m a rustic kook who lives a simple life with a simple
mind and no one trusts me with a real power tool.” A chainsaw says, “I’m
insane, I’ve seen one too many horror movies and I enjoy hacking limbs and
heads off, so give me all your money and get the hell out of my way.” Plus, a
chainsaw gives you a chance to cut your way out of your own vehicle after a
police chase results in you wrapping said vehicle around a telephone pole or a
stately oak in the forest………..
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