Archive for August, 2010

Hurricane Earl and Tropical Storm Fiona

Now that Hurricane Danielle has been downgraded back to a tropical storm and is well on her way to the colder waters of the northern Atlantic Ocean, the eyes are all on Hurricane Earl and the recently developed Tropical Storm Fiona.

The big question remains:  just how close will Hurricane Earl come to the U.S. coastline?

Right now Hurricane Earl is a powerful Category Four storm and passing north of Puerto Rico, heading off to the northwest.  The tropical cyclone may experience some slight strengthening over the next day or two depending on a possible convective ring forming around the eyewall.   According to the NHC, only some slight strengthening is possible over the next day or two.

Hurricane Earl has generally been tracking to the northwest and is expected to make a northern turn in a few days as it passes south of a subtropical ridge.  A strong trough moving through the Great Lakes region is expected to help push the hurricane away and send it on an easterly track in four or five days from now. Read more…

IndyCar race at Chicagoland Speedway

Last night’s IndyCar race at the Chicagoland Speedway was nothing but spectacular for fans of racing.  That was a real treat to see the lead pack of ten cars staying together for most of the race, giving the fans many hair raising moments and a spectacular finish.

Franchitti’s win was his third win of the season, and Wheldon had a strong second place finish.  Wheldon continues to give the best TV interviews.  It’s always a pleasure having him speak to the interviewers before and after races.

And speaking of good finishes, how about three out of four Andretti cars going third, fourth and fifth?

Kudos go out to Sarah Fisher for getting up front and leading a total of ten laps.  True, she went to the front by skipping a pit stop and only led the pack during the yellow flag laps, but she held second place until she came in to pit.  She was gambling for another yellow flag during which she would pit with everybody else and hopefully maintain her position.  It didn’t work out that way for her in the end, but she did a good job staying up front with the leaders. Read more…

Tropical Storm Earl – initial look

Up next in the 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season is Tropical Storm Earl, a brand new tropical cyclone that recently developed off the western coast of Africa.

Right now the short range forecast looks a lot more interesting for Tropical Storm Earl as it heads due west to the Caribbean Sea.  Just take note that the long range forecast has the storm taking a swing to the north sometime on Sunday night or Monday morning.

According to the National Hurricane Center, the tropical storm is forecast to become a hurricane within the next day or two and continue heading westward while staying south of a subtropical ridge.  Once the storm hits the western portion of the ridge, it is expected to take a turn for the north.  The main uncertainty right now is when the storm heads in a northern direction; some models forecast that change in path later than others.

It’ll be interesting watching Tropical Storm Earl and seeing which direction it takes in the end.

Hurricane Danielle – update

Here we are a few days later after Tropical Storm Danielle became a hurricane, weakened to a tropical storm, and is now a hurricane again and forecast to possibly become a major hurricane sometime on Friday.

The interesting part about Hurricane Danielle (aside from it being a hurricane), is that two computer models have the storm taking a path straight to North Carolina.  The official forecast from the National Hurricane Center has the storm drifting to the northwest before taking a right turn and heading north to the colder water of the northern Atlantic Ocean, but the cone of uncertainty still leaves room for a little fluctuation with the path of the storm.

But when you look at the predictions of a few computer models, it’s hard to completely eliminate the chances of this storm striking the eastern coast of the U.S. Read more…

Two More Unusual Recent Events

Two more unexplained events just occurred over the past couple of days.

For the first one, I was standing by my aquarium and feeding my fish when I heard a squeaky, plastic scraping plastic sound like when you insert a straw into a plastic lid.  Next to my fish tank is my trash can, and on the floor was a recent cup from a fast food place.  That cup was where the sound came from, and sure enough the straw had risen by a couple of inches.

I still don’t know how this occurred.

The air pressure, temperature and humidity in the room have been at a constant level all summer.  The floor was still.  Nothing was moving except for me putting food into the aquarium, and that was just a gentle, upper arm movement.

What’s interesting is that I’ve had a lot of fast food cups in my room at times (it’s a habit) under a wide variety of atmospheric conditions, and none of them have ever made a sound like what I heard the other night.  Throw in the fact that the straw was higher and is believed to have physically moved, and there you go. Read more…

*That* Day of Days

Last day.  Capricorn 23’s.  Year of the city – 2010.  Carousel begins.

.

/drives instead of running

//keeps on constant alert for Sandmen

///Box was the best character

////Logan’s Run was a great movie

Tropical Storm Danielle

The Atlantic Ocean is once again showing signs of life as Tropical Storm Danielle has recently developed just off the western coast of Africa.

Right now there isn’t a whole lot of information as the tropical storm recently developed, and there’s quite a bit of time between now and anywhere near the Caribbean islands, Bermuda, or even the U.S. coastline.  A lot can happen in the atmosphere and change the strength and path of this tropical storm between now and, well, whenever.  It’s not known yet if this storm is going to be a threat to the eastern U.S. or not.

Tropical Storm Danielle is forecast to strengthen rather quickly, becoming a hurricane as early as Monday evening.  By that point the computer models should have a better agreement on the storm’s path, whether it’s going to most likely going to take that northern swing either east or west of Bermuda. Read more…

An Interesting Experience Early This Morning

Have you ever had a dream experience that you could swear was so real that you intentionally woke yourself so it would end?

Perhaps from a nightmare?

That’s kind of what happened to me early this morning, but the strangest part is what happened after I woke up.

Lately I’ve been restless at night, often waking up several times before the alarm clock.  For the past few days I would wake up an hour before my alarm sounded, immediately fall back asleep, and during that last hour have the most vivid dreams of the night, many of which turned into a nightmare of one form or another.

But last night was different as I was from what I believe to be sound asleep all night.  That is, until 7 am when the experience began. Read more…

Miller Lite “Man Up” Commercials – A Marketing Review

I don’t know about you, but one of the latest advertising campaigns for Miller Lite beer is rather disturbing.

Really disturbing.

The new commercials basically feature a guy ordering a light beer from a female bartender.  The guy either doesn’t know what he wants to drink, or he flat out refuses an offer of Miller Lite from the bartender.  In each of the commercials, the guy is then portrayed to be a woman by having some kind of woman fashion, whether it’s by carrying a purse, wearing a skirt, wearing thong panties, or even having a lower back tattoo.  The guy goes back to his male friends at a table and faces further ridicule.  The male friends, naturally, are all looking like regular guys and drinking Miller Lite.

Let’s take a look at a few examples and see how MillerCoors is insulting its core customers.

Miller Lite – skirt commercial

Up first we have a man who doesn’t really care about how a beer tastes.  Believe it or not, but there are a lot of guys out there who take pride in drinking the cheapest, crappiest beer available for sale.  It’s what they’ve been drinking for a long time.  It’s probably what they would prefer if they were to reach into an ice cold cooler filled with complete garbage and the most expensive imported beers.

Is there anything wrong with not caring about the taste of not just a beer, but a light beer?  Hell no! Read more…

Book Review – Michael Hirsh’s “None Braver: U.S. Air Force Pararescuemen in the Afghanistan War”

A few days ago I finished reading Michael Hirsh’s historical tale of determination and bravery in None Braver: U.S. Air Force Pararescuemen in the Afghanistan War.  This book follows a couple of units of elite U.S. Air Force soldiers as they risk their lives and do whatever it takes so “That Others May Live.”

And that’s exactly the lifestyle and mentality presented throughout the book.

NOTE – My version of the book is called . . . The Afghanistan War, while the newer printing is called . . . The War on Terrorism.  I do not know if there are any significant differences apart from the title between the two versions of the book. Read more…

2010 NFL Preseason – An Early Look

This past weekend was exciting as our favorite NFL teams took to the playing field for some hard-hitting practice sessions (a.k.a NFL preseason).

Sure, it is only the preseason and the games don’t count, but it’s exciting seeing the new rookies in action as well as other players as they begin playing for new teams.  The preseason is also a last chance for players to make a team or prove that they are worthwhile and worthy of not being cut from the roster.  But the preseason is way too long and needs to only last for two games max, not four.

I didn’t get a chance to see as much as I wanted, but what I did see was certainly interesting around the NFL.

Let’s take a look at a few teams and key players.  Take note that these are observations not from a die-hard NFL analyst but merely an amateur observer and general fan of professional football.  This also does not cover each team and every key player. Read more…

Lipozene – A Marketing Review

Are you overweight?

Can people feel the ground shake when you approach?

Does the bathroom scale tremble in your presence?

Do you want to lose a few pounds but without that pesky diet thing people joke about and swear against?

Is there a way to lose weight without changing what you eat, without going to the gym, and without going under the knife in the hospital?

Well today is your lucky day!

The marketers of Lipozene want you to believe that such a product really exists.  In fact, they’re giving you a 100% money back guarantee to back up their claim.

But what is it exactly that they are selling to the public?  How do they present the concept in their TV commercials?  Let’s take a look. Read more…

The Return of Tropical Storm Colin

Just when you thought it had dissipated into nothing, the former mass of clouds, wind and precipitation formerly known as Tropical Storm Colin is once again known as Tropical Storm Colin.  A TROPICAL STORM WARNING exists for the island of Bermuda.

The good news for those living on the eastern coast of the U.S. is that the computer models are in general consensus that this storm will not be a threat to the continental U.S.  Bermuda is most likely going to experience the brunt of the storm, and it’s forecast path is going to continue to carry it into the northern Atlantic and further away from here. Read more…

Appliance Direct – A Marketing Review

If you’ve visited central Florida within the past five or six years, chances are that you’ve seen an infomercial or short TV commercial for this now legendary store.

If not, well, get ready.  Take a deep breath and prepare to step into the world of Appliance Direct.  Sam will gladly tell you how to spot good and bad features on appliances, while Lee (also known as the Appliance Direct Woman) will slap the side of the truck and proudly claim, “Same day delivery!”

Oh yes, it’s time to take a look at a few of their commercials.

But this isn’t all seriousness.  I also found a few good remixes and parody videos, and those are also shared here.

Let’s start with a generic, 30-second TV spot.

Appliance Direct – See it all!

Here we can easily see the main points of this advertisement:  Appliance Direct apparently has a very large showroom, they claim you can save money by not paying retail, and of course, they offer same day delivery.  Lee slaps the truck twice to emphasize that selling feature. Read more…

Just Sign It And Join The Damn Team, Suh!

The days tick by, and Ndamukong Suh, the #2 overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, still has not signed with the Detroit Lions.

According to a , so far Suh has already missed three days of practice.   Whether he’s holding out personally or if it’s from his agents, this kind of crap with NFL rookies being hold outs needs to end NOW!

The problem here is that many rookies tend to get over inflated egos when it’s time to sign the contract with an NFL team.  They worked hard and performed well in college football, and after the big media blitz they expect to have massive contracts with millions of guaranteed dollars.

Well, folks, I’m sorry, but this is complete garbage. Read more…